Ninth Uncle's eyes lit up when he saw the talisman in my hand, and asked me to let him take a look. After carefully examining it, he praised: "The Mountain Heaven Great Auspicious Opening Array Talisman, I didn't expect that in today's world there is still someone who can use this kind of authentic trigram from the 'Three Pure Divination'! Little brother, where did you get this talisman?"

  I also didn't understand what he was saying about some kind of beast or symbol, so I just told Ninth Uncle the story my grandma used to tell me.

  "Uncle Jiu sighed after listening, "I didn't expect you to have such a heavy karma on your body. That senior is indeed a high-ranking person, able to turn the divination symbols into talismans. It can be seen that his Taoist skills are almost at the level of enlightenment. Little brother, from this talisman, it seems that we two also have some connection. Do you want to hear my story?"

  Who would want to listen to your story, you old codger. I thought so in my heart, but didn't dare say it out loud, after all, the key to whether I can be reborn or not is still in this old man's hands, so I just nodded.

  My ninth uncle gazed at the symbol, then looked at me, and finally looked up at the sky above the market, which would never see sunlight again, and told me his story.

  Originally, Ninth Uncle was also a eater of yin food before his death. He was born in Shanghai in 1934, during the Anti-Japanese War. He grew up in poverty and lost his parents at the age of seven due to war. Forced by life, he begged on the streets and two years later was discovered by a wandering Taoist priest who saw that he had a Taoist bone. The Taoist priest took him as an apprentice, with the secular name Han You and the Taoist name Jing Xian Dao Ren. The famous Taoist brought him to travel around, teaching him authentic Maoshan Taoist techniques and passing on the most precious "Three Pure Ones' Incantation Book" of his sect. Ninth Uncle did not disappoint Master Han You's expectations, relying on his innate intelligence and sincere study of Taoism, he achieved some small success in just ten years. By the time he was 22 years old, he could already exorcise demons and evil spirits on his own.

  At the age of 25, Jiǔ Shū's master, Hàn Yǒu, ascended to heaven through corpse liberation. Jiǔ Shū then inherited Hàn Yǒu's mantle and traveled the world, subduing demons and evil spirits. He had no children, only two disciples, but because they were incompatible and their motivations for cultivating Taoism were impure, he hesitated to pass on the "Three Pureness Mantra" to them.

  Until March 1975, the three masters and disciples traveled to Liaoning, but the local area was suffering from a severe drought. Near the Medical Witch Mountain, they encountered an undead corpse that had already cultivated into a "Gui" (a type of malevolent spirit). The three masters and disciples fought fiercely against it, chasing it to a remote mountain cave in the mountains. There, Jiū Shū saw that this corpse had cultivated to the point where it was not afraid of wind or thunder, confirming that it had become a "Gui".

  According to the "Shenyi Jing", it is said: "In the south, there is a person, two or three feet tall, with bare body, eyes on top of his head, running like wind, named Charms. The country he sees will have a great drought, and the red earth will be thousands of miles away." The changed Charm can fly, kill dragons and swallow clouds, and swords and guns cannot enter. With the strength of Master Jiuzi and his three disciples, they could not eliminate him at all. In the end, Master Jiuzi had to let his disciples seal the cave entrance and use his own blood as a guide to sacrifice the "Rain Master Water Solution Symbol" from the "Three Pure Talisman". By changing the direction of the underground water veins with the talisman, a natural underground water formation was formed. At the cost of his life, he finally suppressed the "Charm" in the mountain cave.

  Because everything came too suddenly at the time, Ninth Uncle didn't have a chance to pass on the "Three Pure Talismans" to his own disciple. His physical body had already merged with the underground water veins and dissolved into one, forever staying in the cave. After Ninth Uncle's ghost arrived in this yin market, he regretted it extremely, thinking that the most regrettable thing in his life was letting the "Three Pure Talismans" be lost from then on. If he were to meet his master in a different realm someday, what face would he have to see his master with?

  Then, Ninth Uncle set up a small stall in front of the Half-Step Inn in this Yin Market, waiting for those who still had a chance to return to the world of the living, so that the Three Pure Ones' Incantation could be passed on. But where can you find people who can still return to the world of the living after they're dead? Besides, since * happened, all the truly capable people either died or hid, and those who could make it through the Yin realm had basically become extinct. However, Ninth Uncle didn't give up, continuing to wait until he met me, this unlucky egg who hadn't died completely, decades later.

  I'm stunned again, if it weren't for all this being too real, I would have thought I was dreaming. This is also too absurd, absurd to the point of being unbelievable. How did zombies even come out in the end? If he hadn't spoken clearly and reasonably and explained the origin of my symbol, I really would have taken this old man as a storyteller.

  However, I roughly understood what he meant. It seems that this old man probably wants to take me as his apprentice because of my extraordinary bone structure. It looks like the heavy responsibility of maintaining world peace will be handed over to me in the future. To be honest, I'm not particularly interested in these supernatural things. What era is it now? Even if there really is an invincible thousand-year-old corpse king, I don't believe that a single RPG anti-tank rocket launcher can't kill him.

  But brother, I still don't know whether I'm dead or alive. For me, finding out how to get back is the key. I said to him: "Ninth Uncle, what you're saying is really incredible, are you thinking of taking me as your apprentice?"

  My ninth uncle sighed, looked at me and said: "Your talent is a bit worse, but the wood element in your eight characters is very sufficient, it can be seen that you are still kind-hearted. Besides, I have no choice now."

  "My god, Ninth Uncle, you don't have to be so blunt. Although I've lived for 17 years and haven't accomplished anything. But this is too hurtful to my self-esteem, I'm under your roof, how can I not obey? I said to him: 'I can acknowledge you as my master, but how will I get back home?'"

  My ninth uncle smiled slightly when he heard that I wanted to take him as my master. He stood up and pointed north, saying: "Judging from the time you arrived, you will be safe within twelve hours in Yangjian. The twelve hours in Yangjian are equivalent to twelve days here. Two days later, I'll help you send a dream to your family members, asking them to release a yellow rooster for you at the tenth hour to guide you on your way back. At that time, you can ride the yellow rooster and return to the world of the living."

  As soon as I heard the way to return, my heart was filled with hope. My brother is not a person who doesn't understand anything, and before Old Man Jiu could say anything, I quickly learned from TV and knelt down in front of him, calling out "Thank you, Master!"

  Ninth Uncle looked at me and called him Shifu, his expression was somewhat excited. To know that a watch in the sun is equal to a day here, he has been waiting for many years without knowing how many years he has been waiting. Today, he finally got what he wanted, and in the future, he will meet Han You without any regrets.

  He helped me up and said, "Xiao Fei. Now that you're a soul, you can remember things much faster than usual. I will teach you to recite the 'Three Pure Ones' spell book within ten days and guide you on your spiritual path. When you return to the world of the living, you must study diligently and practice hard. Believe me, with time, you will achieve great things."

  I nodded, and Ninth Uncle cherished time, so he began to tell me about the origin and content of "San Qing Shu".