Chapter 9: Hundred-Year-Old Tiger Claw

“What’s wrong with my son?” My father knew that the time of my birth was extremely inauspicious, but he believed that there must be other people in such a large country as China who were born at this time, so why was his son plagued by a hundred ghosts?

“The coincidence is that your son was born at this time, and he was born with a boy’s soul. The soul of a boy is extremely powerful, and sometimes there is even a phenomenon of double characters, that is, the boy’s soul in the body is not completely integrated with the soul of the reincarnation, forming a special phenomenon of dual souls. Therefore, there are double characters, that is, two characters! To put it simply, if the soul is yin, then the body must be yang. If the soul is too powerful, the whole person is yin and yang. Being yin is not necessarily a bad thing. At least, it means that the soul is very strong. The birthmark on the back of your son’s head is a sign that his soul is so strong that it has formed an eye. And with a strong soul, it is very easy to perceive the world! Old Jiang explained in detail, and my parents seemed to understand.

Even so, my parents understood a little bit, that is, their son was born with a yin fate and also at a yin time, so what could be done?

“Then my son…” my mother was very anxious.

“Yang is weak, the body is naturally weak, and the life of a boy is already doomed to have many disasters. It is generally difficult to raise, but it is not impossible to solve. In addition, your son has attracted all the lonely ghosts and wild ghosts in the neighborhood. People with a boy’s life are prone to attracting these things, and this is coupled with the time of his birth. The soul of a child is unstable, and since he was born with a boy’s life, the yin is strong and the yang is weak, just like heaven enveloping the earth, the yang enveloping the yin. Your son’s body is extremely difficult to contain his soul, and all those lonely ghosts and wild spirits want to take his place. They can get a human body, which is a hundred times better than the situation of the lonely ghosts and wild spirits wandering around without a place to settle down! My master explained all the problems in a few words.

“Master Jiang, you say you can save my son. Can you do it now?” My father was very anxious.

“No hurry. Your son’s situation needs to be resolved with a ritual to expel the ghosts. I’ve eaten meat and alcohol, so it’s not appropriate to perform the ritual. I’ll stay at your house tonight, and tomorrow morning I’ll go to the mountains to get something, and then perform the ritual. Take this and have your son wear it first. The situation will ease up a bit.” After saying this, my master took something out of his bosom and handed it to my father.

My father took a look at it. It was three inches long, oily yellow, warm and pleasant to the touch, and the claws were extremely sharp. The other end was wrapped in yellow metal with patterns on it. There was a small hole in the yellow metal, and a red rope passed through the middle.

“Master Jiang, what is this?” My father really couldn’t recognize this object.

“Tiger claws! More than 50 years old, the claws of a mature tiger. Give them to your son.” Old Master Jiang said this matter-of-factly, as if this object was not worth mentioning in his eyes.

My parents were farmers and had no idea how precious tiger claws were, let alone tiger claws like these.

Only my mother was sharp-eyed and saw the yellow metal at a glance. She hesitated and said, “Master Jiang, is the thing wrapped in gold?”

“Heh heh.” The old man didn’t want to say more, and after laughing, he only said, “This is my duty. I have a long relationship with your son. Let’s put it on him first.”

My parents were baffled, but they didn’t ask too many questions.

The common folk only know that dogs ward off evil spirits, and evil spirits are most afraid of dog teeth. It is said that dog teeth can bite the soul, but in fact, compared to dogs, cats are more effective in warding off evil spirits. It is just that cats are lazy and indifferent, and they don’t want to get involved.

In general, evil spirits are only afraid of dogs, but they are really afraid of cats, especially their claws.

The tiger is a big cat, which corresponds to the white tiger in the four animals. The claws of the tiger are the best talisman against evil spirits! Tigers don’t live long, and they are very wise. A big cat over 50 years old is extremely rare, and my master is the only one who can get it. Where can ordinary Taoist priests find such things?

My father took the tiger’s claw and put it on me directly. It was strange, but my breathing immediately stabilized. I no longer had the feeling of being strangled, and it really had a miraculous effect!

My parents were even more convinced of the old man’s abilities, and they served him with the utmost respect. But the old man didn’t accept my parents’ attitude this time. He just said, “You can treat me normally from now on. We’re all related now, so this attitude is inappropriate. Otherwise, I’ll leave.”

This old man was talking more and more strangely, and he didn’t explain why. My parents were in a fog, but they didn’t ask too many questions. But they were really afraid that the old man would turn around and leave, so they could only pretend to be natural.

The old man stayed in my house, but he wasn’t interested in anything else. For dinner, he only ate a little vegetable dish, unlike his usual gluttonous appearance. At other times, he liked to hold me and look at me carefully, and from time to time he would “hehe” and laugh foolishly, which made my parents scared.

It wasn’t until bedtime that the old man snorted, “Still together, but not dispersed. They really don’t know when to stop. Tomorrow, I’ll take them all down.”

Early the next morning, my parents woke up, but when they woke up, they found that the old man was gone. He had said yesterday that he was going to the mountains to get something, so he must have gone to the mountains. But no one knew how early he had left. I had never slept so soundly since I was born. I didn’t even make a sound last night. I was sleeping so soundly that I didn’t even wake up until they woke up.

My parents were happy, and they didn’t think that Old Jiang had run away on his own. My mother had carefully examined my tiger tooth pendant the day before and was sure that it was covered in gold. The most precious item in my mother’s dowry was a gold ring that my grandmother had given her, so she recognized gold.

Since she gave me such a precious thing so easily and it worked so well, why would he run away?

Sure enough, as soon as it was light, the old man came to my house. He was carrying a cloth bag and a bucket, which surprisingly contained water.

After putting down the things, the old man said to my mother, “Boil some water. I want to take a bath and change my clothes.”

“Bathing and changing clothes?” My mother couldn’t react at first.

“It means taking a bath and changing clothes,” the old man said casually.

At the old man’s request, my mother boiled water for an hour. The old man asked my mother to prepare three containers of water, one of which he would use to wash his body, one for me to bathe in, and the last one for the family to bathe in.

This was quite complicated. My mother could not imagine that there were so many rules for the old man to take a bath. And while my mother was boiling the water, the old man was secretly cooking something.

The water he used to cook with was the water he brought himself. My father asked him, “Master Jiang, what kind of water is that? Can’t you use our water?”

“No, this is water without roots, it doesn’t take in the earth’s energy. The water for making fragrant soup needs special water.” The old man was still in his style, not explaining, and answered directly.

The old man boiled two small pots of water, and during the process, he added a lot of small things, and he never left the stove during the whole process, adjusting the heat all the time.

After my mother had mixed the water according to the old man’s instructions, he pointed to one of the pots of water he had made and said, “This pot of water is made with angelica, and you should put it in the basin. It’s for the third son.”

“The main ingredient in this pot is peach skin, which I use. Just add it to the large wooden bucket.”

My mother did as the old man said, and then asked, “Master Jiang, is it suitable for a small child to soak in the water?”

“You can soak him in this water, all over, for a while, then rest for a while, then soak again. Just be careful to add some hot water. I will never neglect your third child. I don’t easily make this fragrant soup because it takes a lot of effort, but the fragrant soup of angelica is good for warding off evil spirits and getting rid of the three ghosts. You can just do it.” When it comes to me, the old man’s explanations multiply.

The peach-bark bath that he uses himself is made from the bark of the peach tree after the bark has been removed. It is the most refreshing and is used to prepare him for what he is going to do later.

The fragrant soup is not easy to make, and the ingredients have strict requirements for the heat. The water must also be special water, plus you need bath beans and honey soup. Old man Jiang really took a lot of effort.

Because he takes this matter so seriously, he even makes the fragrant soup himself to make sure it is perfect.