Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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When the bus was about to leave, another person came up. Xie Lingya was engrossed in looking at his mobile phone. When the person passed by, he staggered. He subconsciously reached out to catch him. “Are you okay?”
Only then did he see clearly that this person’s legs and feet were a little bit awkward. Inconveniently, one of his legs was lame. He glanced at it and quickly looked away, “Sit here?”
The man smiled at Xie Lingya and sat down, “Thank you.”
When he smiled, Xie Lingya always felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn’t gather why, but because he was thinking about it, he didn’t delve too much into his father’s situation.
Song Jing sent a text message and told him Father Xie’s ward number. By the way, Father Xie went out to change the light bulb in the corridor at night and accidentally stepped on the light bulb and fell on it. She asked him not to ask more questions about the reason later as Father Xie was very sorry.
Xie Lingya’s father was a bit concerned about face, so without asking anything more, he leaned against the bus window and planned to take a nap, but there were always children laughing and making noise in the bus, so he couldn’t take a rest and had to continue looking at his phone.
There was a broken road from Qiyang to the town and it was quite bumpy. Xie Lingya only felt the car bumping, and then a child who was playing fell down in the aisle next to him. When he stood up, he saw a gash on his mouth and blood. And his tears flowed down for a long time.
The person next to Xie Lingya quickly helped the child up, “Whose child is this? He is bleeding after falling!”
No one responded for a while, and the other passengers were indifferent.
The child cried loudly, and the more he cried, the more his mouth hurt. The man quickly picked him up and used a tissue to wipe it, but the cut was too big to help, and the bleeding couldn’t be stopped for a while.
Xie Lingya saw this and couldn’t care about so much, and quickly recited the hemostatic spell: “Don’t let clean blood flow out, don’t let turbid blood flow…”
Almost at the same time, the man next to him also said: “Don’t let internal blood flow out, don’t let external blood flow… “
Both of them stopped at the same time and looked at each other strangely.
Although the content was different, the meaning seemed to be to stop bleeding. Could it be that they met a colleague?
Fortunately, it was just a small thing encountered on the road. Xie Lingya quickly raised his hand and said, “Please.”
“…” The man was a little embarrassed for no reason, but he still drew a few lines on the child’s wound while chanting a curse in a low voice, “The blood does not come out, the external blood does not flow. When people see me, they are worried. When ghosts see me, they are worried. When ten people see me, ten people are worried. I sit at the entrance of the cave and dare not shed blood…”
After chanting, he stamped his foot on the ground, and the child’s lips did not bleed anymore and he was standing upright.
The child’s crying stopped, and he felt that his mouth was no longer bleeding. He even heard the person in front of him whispering a chant, just like in a cartoon, and he stared at him blankly for a while.
At this time, his parents came running from the front, rubbing their eyes, as if they had just woken up, “What’s going on!”
The child looked at his parents, came to his senses, and said loudly: “Dad, these two brothers are gods.”
He heard and saw that these two gods who were willing to let the other recite the incantation before!
Xie Lingya looked calm, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Sure enough, the parents didn’t take the child’s words seriously and just reached out to hug him.
“The bus bumped just now and the child fell to the ground.” The man handed the child to the parent and said, “It’s better not to let the child run around in the bus. It’s very dangerous.”
“Thank you, thank you.” The parent took the child and taught him in a low voice.
The child was held in the arms of his parents and walked back. But he turned around and continue staring at the two “gods” with his eyes wide open.
The man withdrew his gaze helplessly, met Xie Lingya’s eyes again, and smiled dryly.
“Hey…are you Fang Zhe?” Xie Lingya asked suddenly.
The other party was stunned for a moment, then carefully looked at Xie Lingya’s face and recognized it, “You…are you Xie Lingya?”
“It’s really you, I just said you looked familiar.” When the man smiled, his look became more and more familiar, and he suddenly remembered it.
When Xie Lingya used to stay at his uncle’s place when he was a child, he met a child brought by one of his uncle’s friends, namely Fang Zhe.
The two played together several times when they were children, but later on when everyone went to school, Xie Lingya went to his uncle’s place less frequently. At that time, communication was not as developed as it was now, and Fang Zhe didn’t live in the urban area, so they gradually stopped seeing each other.
As for Fang Zhe’s elder, in Xie Lingya’s impression, although he did not wear Taoist robes, he seemed to be engaged in those weird things, and he should be considered half the same as his uncle. At that time, Fang Zhe and Xie Lingya were equally interested in these things, and they often peeked together.
“We haven’t seen each other for more than ten years.” Fang Zhe sighed, “How is your uncle?”
Xie Lingya said sadly: “My uncle has passed away.”
Fang Zhe opened his mouth, with a bitter look on his face, and said in the same low voice: “… My uncle also passed away a few years ago.”
Neither of the elders were alive, so they went silent for a while. Because they were childhood friends, Xie Lingya didn’t have so many taboos. He asked cautiously: “Fang Zhe, what’s wrong with your legs?”
Fang Zhe could jump up and down when he was a child, but there was nothing wrong with his legs. He wondered if he had a car accident, or a fall like his dad so that his legs were like this.
Fang Zhe’s expression was a bit strange, and the emotions in his eyes were very complicated, as he said: “After my uncle passed away, I studied “Lu Banshu[1]” privately.”
Xie Lingya’s face suddenly changed slightly. He no longer remembered Fang Zhe’s elder, and even the specific occupation of his uncle was unknown, but as soon as Fang Zhe mentioned “Lu Banshu”, he understood. It turned out that Fang Zhe’s uncle was the successor of “Lu Banshu”.
After the death of their elders, Xie Lingya and Fang Zhe entered their respective professions, and their fates were completely different. The key point was that Fang Zhe’s uncle was the successor of “Lu Banshu”. This book was said to be written by Lu Ban, but it not only covered construction and carpentry, but also many miscellaneous skills, and it was also somewhat related to Taoism.
This book contained construction, mechanisms, spells, talismans, incantations, etc., and was widely circulated. The bleeding-stopping chant that Fang Zhe recited just now also came from it.
But the most important part was the method of practicing magic, which was passed down from person to person orally, and outsiders couldn’t know the trick just by reading the text.
What was more important was that when practicing “Lu Banshu”, you would surely suffer from “one door missing” in life, that was, being widowed, lonely, alone, or disabled. Fang Zhe’s uncle never married a wife in his life.
Fang Zhe’s parents divorced, his mother remarried, and his father worked in other places all year round and remarried, so Fang Zhe always followed his uncle. His uncle didn’t want Fang Zhe to study “Lu Banshu” with him because he was worried that he would end up like him. His uncle had no descendants, but he would rather this book be lost than let Fang Zhe learn it.
But Fang Zhe thought at that time, what was the difference between his current situation and that of an orphan? Maybe it would be okay if he learned. So Fang Zhe would often pay attention and peek at his uncle’s tricks. After his uncle passed away, Fang Zhe officially started practicing “Lu Banshu” on his own.
Who would have known that Fang Zhe was destined to be “disabled”. He had a car accident two years ago and his leg became lame.
After hearing what happened to his childhood friend, Xie Lingya felt a little uncomfortable, “You really shouldn’t practice this.”
Fang Zhe shook his head, “I regretted it once, but then I asked myself, if I was given another chance, could I resist learning “Lu Banshu”? I think I would still learn it, after all, I have thought about it for so long.”
Everyone had their own ideas. So, Xie Lingya couldn’t say anything after hearing this, “How is your life now?”
“I also got some help to start my own business, but I was not that capable after all. I took money to open a store and grow fruits, but I couldn’t succeed in it. Now I’m working everywhere, and I don’t have a stable job. After all… even now I’m unemployed again. I’ll stay here for a while and then find a job after the Chinese New Year.”
Xie Lingya also understood what Fang Zhe had not finished saying. He looked at Xie Lingya’s expression and said with a smile, “It’s nothing. When I have nothing to do, I usually draw talismans for others.
It was just that there were fewer and fewer people who paid attention to this.
“How are you doing now? I have a friend who is a very good doctor, and he might be able to help you recover somewhat.”
Fang Zhe nodded indifferently, not having any hope for it, but it was okay to talk to Xie Lingya about old times.
Xie Lingya: “By the way, do you want to be a Taoist priest…”
“No, please don’t let me be a Taoist priest.” Fang Zhe looked scared, “Your expression says that I might as well work for you as a Taoist priest. Forget it, even if you are a Taoist priest, there are many rules. Besides, I don’t have the understanding at all.”
Xie Lingya shouted: “Not at all, you will rather learn the Lu Banshu.”
At this time, the bus was approaching its destination, and the two exchanged their contact information. It was about two days later before he thought to see him.
Xie Lingya was actually still thinking about it. There were also miscellaneous talismans in the “Lu Banshu” that Fang Zhe must have learned. Baoyang Temple’s talisman business was quite stable now, but he was the only one drawing the talismans. If possible, he could ask Fang Zhe if he wanted to draw talismans too, this would also increase Fang Zhe’s income, killing two birds with one stone.
Xie Lingya said goodbye to Fang Zhe and stopped at the hospital.
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[1] The Book of Lu Ban or Lu Banshu is said to be a strange book written by Saint Lu Ban, which is divided into two volumes. The first volume mainly teaches the craftsman’s method, while the second volume is the technique of protecting oneself and harming others.