Chapter 26: The decoy

How could I not recognize them? They were the people from the mysterious courtyard in town!

As I grew older, I was no longer as ignorant as I was when I was a child. I knew in my heart that these people were probably like Old Jiang, people who worked for the country, but although they were wearing military uniforms, they must be different from ordinary soldiers.

Nonsense. If they were ordinary soldiers, would they be entangled with an old con man and even take orders from him?

Over the years, Old Man Jiang would occasionally go to town, but not very often, maybe once every two or three months. He would also bring me, the rascal, along. I went to town to have fun, to sneak off to the movies when I had time, but I still had contact with the people in the courtyard. Some people left, some people came, and some people stayed.

They never brought up the sensitive topic of my identity, but it didn’t affect their kindness to me. When I opened the door, the bearded man at the head of the group, who had opened the door for me the first time we met, greeted me with a smile: “Sanwa, long time no see. You’ve grown up. You’re not a girl, are you?”

I gritted my teeth. This bearded man is called Hu Xueman, and he loves teasing me the most. I took a deep breath and said with a smile, “Auntie Xueman, it’s been a long time. Why did you grow a beard? Just shave it off.”

“This little brat.” The name Xue Man is a bit feminine, so it has become a weapon for me to fight back against him. He smiled sheepishly and led the people behind him into the house.

I had never seen so many people in the courtyard before, and I secretly wondered where Hu Xueman had recruited them from.

A group of people entered the courtyard and walked straight towards the old man Jiang. A young boy who looked no older than me saw the old man Jiang and was so excited that he almost fell over. It was only with great difficulty that he managed to stammer out, “Master Jiang, I am from XX Dao XX Pulse…”

The old man laughed and waved his hand to interrupt him, saying, “As soon as you introduced yourself, I felt ashamed. We are just ordinary people, so there are not so many rules. Don’t do that, okay?”

It turned out that the boy was about to bow to the old man, but the old man was the least particular about this.

The boy’s face was flushed with excitement, and he said, “My master said that you are a person with great abilities. Today, I have met you, and I am simply, I am simply…”

The old man smiled at him, patted him on the shoulder, and asked Hu Xueman, “Why did this young kid come in?”

“This child is very talented. His master’s idea is to have some experience.” Hu Xueman said respectfully.

“Nonsense, this is a good experience? Our department, to say leisurely, can be leisurely for more than ten or twenty years, nothing, once there is something, you can’t guarantee that it will be a year-round thing, and it is more dangerous, you don’t know, let the child come to practice? ” Old man Jiang was angry.

The young boy was a little scared and a little anxious, and quickly said, “Master Jiang, no, no, it’s not like that. It was my master who said that his abilities were limited. It just so happened that a master in our school was in this department, and there were many high-level people in this department, so he asked me to come. He said… he said he hoped that I would acquire real abilities and really get in touch with the world that he couldn’t touch, and the Dao.”

The old man did not get angry with the boy and asked, “How old are you? What is your master’s name?”

“I’m 18 years old. My uncle’s name is Cao Xing’an, and his Daoist name is…”

“Okay, once you’re in this department, you won’t be called by your Daoist name anymore. Cao Xing’an is a capable person. Hu Xueman, no matter what, take care of this child. Don’t let this child participate in Operation 5.” Old Jiang pondered for a while and made a decision.

Hu Xue-man nodded and looked at me, wanting to ask Jiang Laoren something, but Jiang Laoren said, “You go and dispose of the cow carcasses in the cattle pen. Be careful. The bugs are strange. I think they are under the yard, but they are not human, so I can’t say for sure.”

“What should we do with the cow carcass?” Hu Xueman asked.

“Burn it, but bury it properly. Don’t give it a funeral, it will increase its karma. It might even be reincarnated as a human, but it won’t be because of this.” Old man Jiang said.

At this time, Huijue said sourly, “Oh, what a great show! Why can’t we see any Buddhists in it? It’s so unlucky! There aren’t any Buddhists in this one, so you can’t enjoy the breeze alone?”

The old man Jiang glanced at Huijue and said in Shaanxi dialect, “You’re a stupid idiot!”

Hui Jue was like a cat with its tail stepped on. Without saying a word, he stood up and kicked the old man on the ground, cursing, “If the tiger doesn’t show its teeth, you’ll think I’m a sick cat.”

I helplessly patted my forehead and turned around to carefully admire the flowers and plants.

Then there was a burst of coughing in the courtyard, and the dozen or so people who had come in all ran off to the cowshed without looking back.

Su Rou was there, smiling foolishly, “Master Jiang, Master Hui, you’re really funny.”

“Shu, you know nothing. Go away! If you don’t believe me, I’ll beat you up.”

“Little Fatty Wen, are you itchy?”

I ‘admired’ the flowers and plants as I walked by, laughing to myself. Su Rou, aren’t you very clever? Your son has come to this?

That night was exceptionally dark, with not a single star in the sky. Even the remaining crescent moon was occasionally obscured by clouds.

In the courtyard, there was only a dim oil lamp hanging, which made a squeaking sound when the cold north wind blew.

In front of the courtyard gate, there was a paper altar. The faces of the paper people and paper horses looked a bit strange in the dim light of the oil lamp, giving people a creepy feeling. Occasionally, the yellow cloth of the altar would be blown by the wind, making people feel as if insects were about to come out.

The courtyard was quiet and dark. I was the only one sitting in the middle of the courtyard. The bench under my butt was cold. I had been sitting there for half an hour, but I could never get warm because I was cold all over.

In front of me, there was a strange red liquid, and a white object, similar to a candle, was burning in the liquid, emitting a special smell that resembled the smell of sweat mixed with the flow of blood under the skin after strenuous exercise. It was a little hot and a little fishy.

Around me, there were intricate patterns of lines and dots, and a few black and white stones with a faint glow were placed at random on the dots.

Looking up, I saw the oil lamp hanging above my head, still creaking and groaning. I cursed my cheap master in my heart for the thousandth time.

“Let Sanwa lead the way. He was born with a strong spiritual nature, and he almost couldn’t control his yang. I’ve been supplementing him for all these years. Who among you has the vitality of his blood? Do you understand? Only with vitality can we lock his three souls and seven spirits, so that they won’t be weakened and scattered due to overflowing spiritual awareness, and the situation of being unable to contain the soul and spirit as a child won’t happen again.” This is the order that old man Jiang gave everyone. Tonight, we will lure out the hungry ghost worm. I am the bait, the bait that lures out the cunning hungry ghost worm.

He was afraid that others would not believe it, so he told me all the things that happened when I was a child. He almost didn’t say that when I was a child, my soul would fly out of my body at any time, so it attracted hundreds of ghosts to surround me, thinking that they would take over my body.

Well, he was the one who begged to be my master!

So, I can’t have a cheap master, and I was sold!

No matter how Hu Xueman emphasized the danger, no matter how Hui Jue expressed his concern, no matter how the “playful” Su Rou, who was hesitating to take my place, I was just sitting on the bench in the middle of the courtyard, not allowed to object.

Old Jiang glared at me and said, “If he can’t handle this, he shouldn’t have followed me. What’s his skill? He started training at seven, so he’s had plenty of time. Let him sit there. Whoever dares to object will be punished!”

So, I sat here tragically. After all the years of his education, I don’t say that respect for the teacher is engraved in the bones, even if I outwardly like to mock and ridicule each other with the old man Jiang.

But even so, it was really hard to bear, and it didn’t stop me from cursing him a thousand times in my heart. Can someone who is decisively resolved by a bullet be the same as someone who knows that the bullet is going to hit him, but still has to endure and wait?

I don’t know whether I was hoping that the hungry ghost would appear or whether I hoped that it would appear in this lifetime. In this conflicted state of mind, time passed by minute by minute, and a dark cloud once again covered the moon.