Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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In order to verify Shi Changxuan’s prediction, Xie Lingya took out his sneakers before dinner. Zhang Daoting thought he was going for a run.
“I’m going to climb the mountain with Taoist Master Shi in the evening. I don’t know when I’ll be back. If it’s late, don’t leave the door open for me.” Xie Lingya asked.
Zhang Daoting felt strange as to what kind of mountain these two people were climbing at night. He suddenly thought of something and said coldly: “Boss, you are not going to climb Boshan Mountain to find the mountain ghost that caused He Zun and the others harm, right?”
Xie Lingya: “…”
Xie Lingya: “Am I that kind of person in your mind? It’s not enough to drive it away, but I have to bring people to fight it too?”
Zhang Daoting: “No, no… What I mean is, find it and see what it is?”
“Then can I find it?” Xie Lingya was speechless. He had never touched that thing personally, so it was not possible unless he took He Zun with him to go fishing and law enforcement.
But that was going a bit far. Xie Lingya put on his shoes and said, “It’s just mountain climbing anyway. You’ll know why when we get back.”
He also wanted to know what good things Shi Changxuan could do.
Because he didn’t know exactly what time it would happen in the evening, Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan set off as soon as it got dark after dinner. He also put on a thin coat to avoid the cold in the mountains.
There were many mountains in Qiyang, so Shi Changxuan picked up grass for divination and took Xie Lingya to Qishan Mountain, which was close to the outskirts of the city but not too far away. There was no planning here, it was a relatively wild place, so people came to climb the mountain and pull bamboo shoots from time to time.
The two of them took a taxi and came here. The driver was puzzled, “What are you students doing here at night?”
Xie Lingya said: “Climbing up to see the night scene.”
“So interesting,” the driver laughed, and said casually, “I wish you all a good time.”
“Hahaha, thank you.” Xie Lingya waved to the driver happily, “Let’s go.”
Shi Changxuan: “…”
Because it was not a planned attraction. Of course, there was no concrete road in the mountain. Fortunately, it was not very steep. Xie Lingya specially brought a flashlight and walked up the mountain with the light.
Unfortunately, the two of them wandered aimlessly in the mountains for an hour, and nothing good happened. Not to mention five yuan, they couldn’t even pick up fifty cents.
Xie Lingya still had more than an hour’s faith in Shi Changxuan, but he couldn’t walk anymore. He sat on a tree stump and said, “Maybe the time is not right yet, so I’ll sit here and wait.”
Then he started doing questions on his phone.
Shi Changxuan had no choice but to sit on the ground beside him.
Xie Lingya was chatting with Shi Changxuan while doing the questions. Unknowingly, it had turned eleven o’clock. Xie Lingya’s back was sore from sitting down. Just when he was about to stand up and walk again, a white light flashed in the sky, and then there was muffled thunder.
Boom – soon, a drizzle of rain also started falling.
“Isn’t it?” Xie Lingya looked up in shock.
He made all kinds of preparations, even bringing a power bank, but he didn’t expect that it would rain at night when it was sunny during the day.
“Don’t tell me that it’s a good thing if the two of us picked up an umbrella now.” Xie Lingya said, dumbfounded.
“…” Shi Changxuan was speechless, “… let’s take shelter from the rain first.”
It was such a long way down the mountain, and the road was still slippery from the rain. Going back now was obviously not the best choice, so the two had to find a place with denser leaves to take shelter from the rain.
“I remember there seemed to be banana trees over there before…” Xie Lingya muttered and walked in one direction.
The thunder was still rolling, lightning flashing from time to time, and the rain was getting heavier, giving it a thriller-like atmosphere.
But Xie Lingya and Shi Changxuan were not afraid, they had even seen ghosts. Moreover, there could not be any ghosts in this weather, ghosts were the most afraid of thunder and fire.
The two used their coats to protect themselves from the rain. They found a banana tree and used its broad leaves to protect themselves from the rain.
Their coats were already wet, and their body was inevitably splashed with water, making them feel a little clammy. No matter from which angle he looked at it, nothing good had happened to them so far tonight.
Xie Lingya was about to ask Shi Changxuan to do a divination to see if he could tell when the rain would stop, but he saw Shi Changxuan staring to the side. He also took a look and said curiously: “That’s a chervil, what’s the matter?”
A clump of plants grew beside the banana tree, with low, oblong leaves and green stems.
Shi Changxuan said softly: “Phytolacca[1]…”
“Yes, the scientific name seems to be Phytolacca.” Xie Lingya said. This thing was not uncommon in the mountains. Its fruit was a bunch of purple-red spheres. The roots were very thick. It was said that it could be used as medicine, so it was commonly known as chervil or native ginseng.
Shi Changxuan took two steps outside and was exposed to the rain. He squatted down and pushed aside a Phytolacca leaf.
Xie Lingya was stunned, and quickly stepped forward to take a look – he saw one of the very dense Phytolacca plants. Half of its yellow roots were exposed outside the soil. Looking at this half alone, it looked like the upper body of a human child, with a complete head, face and five senses, it was lifelike, with two “hands” resting on the soil, as if they were about to jump out.
“Aigoo, why is it so long!” Xie Lingya also squatted down, ignoring the raindrops, and shined a flashlight on it. Yes, it was indeed lifelike, and it was natural, not carved.
At this time there was another peal of thunder, and Shi Changxuan dug up the Phytolacca plant without any further hesitation.
The lower half of the Phytolacca root was exposed out of the soil, and it actually looked like two human legs. Xie Lingya’s scalp went numb: “Holy crap, has this Phytolacca become a spirit?”
“Absolutely.” Shi Changxuan held the Phytolacca root. He wiped it clean and wrapped it up, “Have you ever heard of Phytolacca, or the God of Ears?”
“I’ve heard of the God of Ears. I used to call our study committee member the God of Ears. He always reported to the teacher…” But they were no longer next to each other. So, Xie Lingya asked curiously, “What does it mean specifically?”
Shi Changxuan had to explain to him: “Shangdi[2] and Zhongli Quan[3], these are a kind of reporting gods, and they can be counted as a kind of wood spirit. It is said that the soul of Lu Zu’s dead boy was attached to the willow tree. Lu Zu then used willow roots to carve a wooden figure to channel its spirit and turned the boy into a fairy boy to protect the Dharma. From this, the method of sacrificial refining was passed down.”
“This sacrificial refining method was later carried forward, and anyone who took camphor, willow, peach wood or Phytolacca root could carve and use it as a sacrifice. After completion, the reporting God can stick to the owner’s ear to report events, hence the name, and the scope of the things it knows would be determined according to its spirituality.”
“In addition to the cultivation of the caster, spirituality depends on the Reporting God itself. A human form like this Phytolacca is a natural Reporting God, a wood spirit with its own spirituality. If it is carved from an ordinary tree root, then you also need to do something to make the wandering souls attach themselves to the roots of the tree so that they can channel spirits. If you accumulate good deeds, you can also make the Reporting God be enlightened.”
In ancient times, there were Taoist priests who specialized in making Reporting Gods for sale, and some Taoist priests could directly make money with the help of Reporting God, but the effects and consequences were different.
“…So it can talk??” Xie Lingya was shocked after hearing the whole story. He wanted to get closer and listen to the way the tree spirit spoke.
It was extremely rare for a plant rhizome to grow into a human-like shape. Basically, it was like Xie Lingya among plants, born with astral bones.
The last time He Zun went into the mountains, Xie Lingya suspected that he had encountered the Fengzi ghost in the mountains. Speaking of which, the Fengzi ghost was actually a tree spirit, but it belonged to the maple tree spirit.
“It can’t do it yet, but Reporting God, regardless of whether it is born spiritual or not, needs to recite a mantra for it to ‘speak’, otherwise the wood spirit will certainly not understand human speech.” Shi Changxuan took a step back, otherwise Xie Lingya wanted to get closer to the Phytolacca, but its roots were about to pierce his arms, and he added, “And it should have just grown. There was thunder tonight. The spirits are afraid of thunder, so it must have fallen short and gotten stuck in the soil.”
Xie Lingya was confused: “What does “falling short of success” mean? Has he lost his spirituality? Then how can he still serve as a Reporting God?”
“…” Shi Changxuan thought about how to explain it, and then said after a while, “You can think of it as… being scared out of your wits.”
Xie Lingya: “… “
Xie Lingya almost laughed out loud, “Hahahahaha, so it still has spirituality, it just needs to be ‘treated’, right?” Really a good thing.
Such a God-given Phytolacca spirit was rare to find. However, when he was just growing up and encountered a thunderstorm, he was not only saved, but also had the opportunity to be converted by a Taoist like Shi Changxuan.
Just this, it was much better than five yuan. Xie Lingya was very satisfied and convinced that the calculation was indeed correct.
When the rain subsided, the two of them went down the mountain carefully. Originally, Shi Changxuan wanted Xie Lingya to wait, but Xie Lingya said who knew when the rain would stop, so they might as well go back early. He also wanted to see what Shi Changxuan did to the Reporting God.
“…It’s not just a day’s work.” Shi Changxuan said this, and then he thought about it. Anyway, both of them were wet, and they would easily get sick if they stayed outside.
….
When the two returned to the Taoist temple, Hai Guanchao and Zhang Daoting had already gone to rest. After Xie Lingya changed his clothes, he watched Shi Changxuan deal with the Phytolacca. First, he cut off the branches, leaves and excess roots to give it a more human shape.
“The divine light of the sky, the divine light of the earth, the divine light of the sun and the moon, command you to open your eyes. Open your eyes to see the world, open your mouth to open your mouth to save everyone…” At this time, he drew a blood talisman on his middle finger and recited the mantra to open up its spirituality as he clicked on his facial features.
Shi Changxuan burned incense and offered sacrifices to the newly born Reporting God.
Shi Changxuan did not shy away from Xie Lingya and kept tossing it until more than one o’clock in the middle of the night.
Xie Lingya yawned, “When will it be considered a success?”
“It’s hard to say.” Shi Changxuan was not sure. The situation of this Phytolacca God was different, and it was actually his first time performing the Reporting God method. He would recite the mantra every day when he came down, and he should gradually wake up.
Xie Lingya: “Then what ability will it have in the future? Can it help you calculate lottery numbers?”
Shi Changxuan: “…It’s hard to say.”
The scope and size of each Reporting God’s ability was different, but the most basic thing was that its predictions could help the owner seek good fortune and avoid misfortune, ranging from life and death misfortunes to small things at home. Unlike humans who needed to practice various techniques to predict, this was their innate ability.
Xie Lingya felt regretful for a moment and then looked forward to it, “Then when it can ‘early report’, you must tell me what it said!”
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[2] The Wǔfāng Shàngdì (“Five Regions’ Highest Deities” or “Highest Deities of the Five Regions”[note]), or simply Wǔdì (“Five Deities”) or Wǔshén (“Five Gods”) are, in Chinese canonical texts and common Chinese religion, the fivefold manifestation of the supreme God of Heaven (Tiān).
[3] Zhongli Quan, courtesy name Jidao, is a Chinese mythological figure and one of the Eight Immortals in the Taoist pantheon. He is also known as Han Zhongli because he was said to have been born in the Han dynasty. In legend, he holds a peach and wields a large feather fan which can resurrect the dead and transform stones into silver or gold