Chapter 33: The boat takes hungry ghosts

Operation 5? I frowned, wondering why the phrase sounded so familiar. I thought back carefully, and suddenly remembered that on the afternoon of the bug hunt, it seemed that my master had mentioned that the child should not participate in Operation 5.

I stared at Hu Xue-man with a ‘sinister’ look, and the bearded man immediately said in a defensive tone, “Don’t ask me, I won’t say anything, not even if you beat me to death.”

What kind of people are these? They like to hide things from me!

I knew I wouldn’t get any answers, so I took Hu Xue-man to the Bamboo Grove in a sullen mood.

As we walked out of the bamboo forest, Hu Xue-man kept on telling me how ingenious the layout of the bamboo forest was, how it made use of the natural momentum, and how it was a puzzle that could be solved by cutting down a few bamboo trees.

It’s not subtle at all. I’m not bragging, but I can walk out of this bamboo forest with my eyes closed. I’m just too lazy to tell Hu Xueman that I’m full of Operation 5 and I’m so excited that I’ve completely forgotten about the psychological torture I went through that night.

This is a typical case of forgetting the pain of a healed wound. This is also the only place in my personality where I have thick nerves.

I’m thick-skinned because I’m curious, because I want answers, because I’m stimulated!

When he came to the valley in the bamboo forest, Hu Xueman began to marvel at the trees and plants here, marveling at the scenery here. It was hard for him, too. It was the first time he had come here in so many years. The bearded man was a chatty person. I lazily made a definition, looked up, and saw that the old man Jiang and Huijue were busy in the dam where I practiced kung fu.

I walked over, dropped my bag, and asked, “Master, what are you doing with the bamboo?”

“To make a boat,” the old man replied without looking up.

I looked at the old man Huijue, who was cutting paper, and he just said, “This hungry ghost has to rely on a boat to get back to the hungry ghost realm. The king of hell does not accept them, and it will be even more difficult for them to go there.”

I put down my bag and helped the two old men cut paper. To be honest, I knew that they would have some fine work to do later that I couldn’t do, but I still knew how to do these things!

Whoever wants to be a Taoist monk should also know how to do some crafts, such as making paper dolls and paper horses. I have also practiced these things, and I may not have the exquisite craftsmanship of a master, but I probably won’t be too difficult to handle.

At this time, Hu Xueman came back from his feelings about the scenery, and came over to me, saying to my master, “Master Jiang, I just came to talk to you about 5…”

The old man Jiang looked up at him, and Hu Xueman showed an innocent expression again. It was really a bit incongruous for a masculine, bearded man to show that innocent expression. I shuddered and thought to myself, this “Aunt Xueman” really has no heart, and she can’t keep a secret.

I was not in a good mood and said to him, “Master, don’t stare at him, your eyes are about to fall out. He already said it twice. What is Operation 5?”

The old man’s eyes widened even more, and now his eyes were really about to fall out.

Hui Jue threw the paper away and laughed so hard on the dam that he danced around. After laughing, he pointed at Hu Xue and scolded him: “You idiot.”

Hu Xue Man’s face turned green and red in anger, but you can’t get angry with these two weird old men. You can only say, “Master Jiang, don’t stare at me like that. I only said Operation 5, I didn’t say anything else!”

Hui Jue was still laughing arrogantly, and Hu Xue Man finally couldn’t help but yell, “Master Hui, can you stop laughing? You’re going to lose your teeth!”

Hui Jue immediately put away his smile and looked angry: “What did you say? Do I have false teeth? Come on, let’s fight.”

I turned my head and glanced at Hu Xue-man. This bearded uncle was so irritated that he almost fainted.

That night, a beautiful little boat was finally completed. It was beautiful because my master’s paper-cutting skills were really amazing, and he made the boat look so lifelike.

The boat was covered with dense patterns, but the bamboo frame had not been specially treated.

When it comes to paper boats, Old Master Jiang said, “Let’s go down the mountain. We’ll convert these hungry ghosts tonight.”

“Master Jiang, but…” Hu Xueman said anxiously. He had been waiting for a long time, but the two old men were so busy making paper boats that they didn’t even notice him.

“It’s almost 8 o’clock, and we haven’t eaten yet. Go find some rice. I still have some meat. There are fresh vegetables in the winnow in the back hallway. Make a meal and wait for me to come back and eat. We’ll talk about it when I come back.” Old man Jiang walked away with great style.

“Remember to fry two eggs,” Hui Jue hummed a Shaanxi folk song, adding oil and vinegar.

Hu Xueman was about to cry, and shouted, “You can ask me to embroider flowers, but don’t ask me to cook. I don’t know how to cook at all.”

“If it’s not good, I’ll take you on,” the old man Jiang shouted from a distance, without even turning his head.

I had to hurry up and follow him. After all, the master didn’t object to me going, and I had to stay. I couldn’t cook like Hu Xueman.

The road down the mountain was a bit cold, but I found it very refreshing, because I had never felt like I was going down the mountain so late. It was very quiet, and I couldn’t stand the silence, so I said, “Master, is it difficult to save hungry ghosts? Why do you have to go down the mountain?”

“To save hungry ghosts, it’s best to find a large river, but if that’s not possible, a tributary will do. Otherwise, they won’t be able to return to the hungry ghost realm smoothly. Do you want me to use the mountain stream to save them?” Although Old Master Jiang’s words were not nice, he explained it to me in great detail.

“Is the river in the village okay?”

“Yes, it’s a tributary of the Tuo River, and it’s enough to cross the hungry ghosts.” The master took my hand because there was a difficult hill ahead.

I felt a wave of warmth in my heart. Since I grew up, my master has rarely held my hand like when I was a child.

In fact, I have been walking on this mountain path for so many years that I am not afraid of any obstacles. It is just that my master always shows these caring details inadvertently.

The river in the village is indeed a tributary of the river. If it were an ordinary small river, it would have dried up in the winter, but this river has only slightly lowered its water level.

The old man Huijue lowered the boat and said, “Cross the river. When the boat is lowered, I will start crossing the dead.”

Old Jiang nodded and put a plate in the boat’s canopy. On it was a candle of an indescribable color. When it was lit, the flame was a greenish glow.

“Have you forgotten your sister’s soul-guiding lantern? It’s the same thing, plus the rune patterns on the boat, which should be able to illuminate their way across the border.” Jiang Laotou’s tone was tinged with a hint of compassion.

“Is it difficult to cross the border?” In fact, I don’t know what crossing the border means. I only know that the earth is round, with five continents and seven oceans. Where do you cross the border? Even though I have seen a lot of things that are mysterious and ghostly, I still don’t really believe in this world.

“It’s difficult. The River of the Dead is difficult, especially the Hungry Ghost Realm, which is full of dangers.” Huijue suddenly said something that scared me.

“The hungry ghost realm is so terrifying. How can you send them back and call it a salvation?” I think that salvation should be a happy place, so sending them to the poor mountains and evil waters is nonsense.

“Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth, and fallen leaves return to their roots. This is the best way to be reborn! Only in one’s own world can one cultivate one’s own fruit. The human world is not a place where they can cultivate.” Huijue said.

I felt dizzy. I was most afraid of the old man Jiang and Huijue discussing the Dao, and I didn’t understand the deeper meaning.

The old man ignored what I and Huijue were saying, and carefully took out the purple talisman folded into a triangle from the yellow cloth bag he was carrying, put it into the boat, and then dipped it in the water and put the boat in the middle of the river.

After returning to the shore, the old man began to chant a spell. I didn’t know what the spell was, but after the spell was cast, the paper boat that was floating in the river actually drifted to the middle of the river without any wind. The green candlelight reflected in the dark river water actually seemed a bit desolate.

“Don’t ask, this spell is a material spell, it is cast on objects with written patterns, I just helped them float on the waterway.” As soon as the old man finished speaking, the paper boats stopped in the river and didn’t move.

That position is their shipping lane? It’s really amazing that the paper boat doesn’t sink, but it can also remain motionless in the river.

At this time, Huijue sat cross-legged and began to recite a strange-sounding sutra. This was definitely not a sutra I was familiar with, but I was not supposed to ask about Buddhist matters. Huijue had said that he would not be coming back next year, or for several years, because he was going to take on an apprentice.

Naturally, he will pass on his skills to his disciples. To be honest, I think that old man Huijue can only chant sutras, and he doesn’t have the same elegant posture as my master when he practices.

As the sutra was being recited, the boat that had been motionless in the river for almost half a minute began to move. It moved very slowly at first, but as the sutra became louder and louder, the boat began to move faster and faster.

My eyesight is excellent, and I watched the boat float far away, thinking that it was almost done when suddenly something strange happened. The boat, which had been floating so well, suddenly disappeared.

No, it didn’t disappear, but sank all at once. It wasn’t like the paper slowly soaked up water and then sank slowly, but sank all at once.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, and immediately asked the master, “Master, this… this is crossing the line?”

Old Jiang’s face was a little unnatural, as if he had been thinking about something. It took him a while to say, “Crossing the line is just a saying. Anyway, I have learned Taoism, and I know some things, but I don’t know why. I did what I was supposed to do, and I can’t give you an answer to this. Maybe it was just a wave that swept it away.”

This explanation was more in line with what I had in mind, and I accepted it without any hesitation.

At this point, Huijue also stood up and said, “Lao Jiang, don’t think too far. The hungry ghost has been saved. Let’s go.”

With that, the three of us turned and left the river. I just thought the conversation between the two old men was strange. I looked back at the river and thought to myself, where did the waves come from in the calm winter water?

A whirlpool? Well, maybe it was a whirlpool, I thought to myself, and I saw that the two old men had already gone far away, so I quickly followed them.