Chapter 21: Crazy magic

I sat in the middle of the room, and Cheng Xin looked at me with infinite sympathy. Then he said nothing. He dared to speak? Facing his own master, he cried, laughed, argued, and grieved like a madman. I was afraid that if he spoke, he would be killed.

“Li Ren, no matter what, you can’t prove anything without going there. Let’s wait for Chengyi to rest a bit and then we can discuss one more thing.” In the end, the master sighed and said so.

Uncle Chen seemed very tired, too, and took a rare drag on his master’s pipe, saying, “When it comes to magic, you understand it better than I do, so you can let Cheng try it once.”

I was sweating a little, not knowing what they wanted me to try, but I knew that since I had invited my master to come, my master and my uncle had gone crazy, and after being brought here, they had been forced to ask me a lot of questions.

For example, what was I thinking about when I was practicing the Zhongmao technique? For example, was there any residual memory in my mind, and if so, what was it? For example, did I have any impression of the techniques I practiced on myself, and could I still practice them?

I dared not be negligent and answered all of them. I told my master with great difficulty that when I performed the Zhongmao technique, I didn’t think about who I was. Because my master had said from the very beginning that the Zhongmao technique was a useless technique in our school, when I performed the Zhongmao technique, my mind was a blank of no self. I just wanted to see if I could perform it smoothly with my own spiritual perception.

This answer made Master look strange. After a long time, he scolded me for messing around, saying that if I had invited a creature that I didn’t know what it was, I would see how I would end up.

But why could Old Li be summoned even when there was nothing to do? This was the question that Master and Uncle Chen could not understand.

Uncle Chen thought of something, but he insisted that I would know after trying it out later.

As for whether I have any residual memories of my master in my head, that’s a bit of a stretch. I honestly told my master how I felt. I felt that the master I summoned was just casually browsing through my memories of a certain period of time, just like what happened at the time. Otherwise, how could he have had a problem with that old man? But I was pushed to the spirit altar, and I couldn’t even touch my master, so where would I get any memories?

This answer left my master in a daze for a long time, and it was only after a while that he said, “If the experiment I’m going to conduct next doesn’t succeed, I’ll use my life to perform a spiritualist session. I’ll see if I can find my master in the underworld.”

But soon, Master Chen stopped him. He said, “You’re not going to use psychic powers? Have you forgotten our oath? No, this is absolutely not allowed.”

I didn’t understand what my master was talking about, but it was rare that my master didn’t object. You see, my master is the kind of person who once made a decision, and ten oxen couldn’t drag him back.

In the end, I could only tell my master that what my master’s master did was his master’s master’s business, and what I did was my business. He could do what he wanted, but I had no idea what he was talking about.

My answer made the master and the master think for a long time, and then they started laughing, crying, arguing, and being silent and crazy. In this situation, I didn’t dare to speak, and Chengxin brother dared not provoke.

They spoke very quickly and in many places they were not very clear, but I could tell that the focus of the argument was on one thing, and that was that before the Grand Master disappeared, he had already compiled all of his magical skills, including the heart and virtue of his own learning, into a book and passed it on to his disciples.

And the way I used the Three-Pronged Bell was clearly something my master had never seen before. Why?

There are only two possible answers: either the master didn’t die, and he learned the new technique.

The other is that the master has already passed away, but only learned the new method before he passed away.

Therefore, this question eventually became a debate about the understanding of Zhongmao’s art. The master was more authoritative in this regard. He said that Zhongmao’s art invites the power of the same sect, especially referring to the previous generation of uncles and aunts, but Zhongmao’s art does not emphasize the need to invite the spirits of deceased members in any Taoist classics. It is just a general habit to invite the spirits of deceased members…

But the master said that Zhongmao’s art is a useless art. But the master was always alone, so it was reasonable for him to say that it was a useless art.

Because of this, my master has never used the Zhongmao technique, or maybe he was afraid of inviting his own master.

Now, the remaining hope fell on me. My master actually asked me to use the Zhongmao technique to invite him to possess me. This idea could only have come from my crazy master.

What’s even more terrifying is that Uncle Chen didn’t object, and even said that in contemporary China, when it comes to understanding and using magic, my master is second to none, and this idea is worth a try.

I sat in the middle, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and asked my living master in front of me to take over my body? Well, the master’s orders are hard to disobey!

But since I had already used the Zhongmao technique once today, even though my spiritual awareness was astonishingly strong, I couldn’t do it again. My master told me to rest for two days before doing it.

I asked my master in confusion, “Master, didn’t you say that we were leaving for the Black Rock Miao village tomorrow?”

But the real preparations are not that easy. It won’t be long now, so just wait a little longer,” said the master.

I was depressed. My master had lied to me, deliberately releasing false information to make the people of the Black Rock Miao Village and the organization come here in a hurry, thinking that if they subdued my master, the formation would not be constructed. It was because of this that the place where my master was really going to do something was overlooked by them.

Master has played a good trick, but who would have thought that the spy was Irene?

It’s good that the people from the Black Rock Miao Village went back and tried their best to destroy the so-called great formation. Now the place where the real work is being done is safe. Compared to Master’s ‘old and cunning’, I am far from it.

I couldn’t help but visit Ruoxue. Ruoxue had already been deeply hurt by the Black Rock Miao tribe, and she hadn’t recovered from it in all this time. Irene’s death had finally hurt her too deeply, so she had been in a coma until now.

The girl who stayed by Ruoxue’s side was Tuan Tuan, a gentle, cheerful, and sensible girl. She didn’t blame me for anything, but just sighed and said, “How could that silly girl, Irene, choose to die? What was so important that she had to die? And Ruoxue is also pitiful. She just separated from you, and then her best friend…”

I was speechless and didn’t know how to answer Tuan Tuan’s question. Preserving Irene’s reputation was already our tacit understanding. Even if some people were reminded of something because of Lin Chen’s appearance, we would never let go. Even to Ru Xue, I didn’t want to say anything.

I felt a pang of pain when I saw Ru Xue’s still pale face in a coma. I was used to wanting to hold Ru Xue’s hand, but in the end I didn’t move. We are no longer lovers now, and I must observe etiquette and not do these intimate things anymore.

Seeing me like this, Tuan Tuan couldn’t help but say, “This is good, at least we can still get along as friends. We Miao people value bloodline, and if it weren’t for the fact that the village has always had a good impression of Taoist priests, I’m afraid that because of your Han identity, neither you nor Ru Xue would have had a chance.”

I asked in a low voice, “Are you blaming me for not wanting to quit my own sect and give up the Taoist tradition for the sake of Ru Xue?”

“No, I don’t blame you. Everyone has their own helplessness. I should thank you. If it weren’t for you, Ruoxue would have probably married that Bu Zhou.” Tuan Tuan said seriously.

“Marry Bu Zhou?” I felt mixed emotions. I knew that the girl was the only link between the village and the poisonous dragon. If Ru Xue married Bu Zhou, who would control the poisonous dragon?

However, Tuan Tuan certainly didn’t know about these things, but Ru Xue must have known very well. It’s just that because the poisoned dragon was a secret, she never told me.

Just as I was talking to Tuan Tuan, Ru Xue woke up…