Early in the morning at five o'clock, I pulled Fatty, who looked sleepy, out of the room. Yú Lao and Master Han were already chatting and drinking tea. When they saw us, Master Han said, "Zhen, follow me; Xiao Shan, follow my senior brother."
Fatty, in a daze, followed Master Han, while I stayed in the main hall. Yú Lao was drinking tea and smiling as he said, "The path is chosen by oneself, but whether there is the perseverance to persist is another matter. Cultivating skills and learning the path is not something that can be achieved overnight. My level of skills today began to train from the age of five. But I do not engage in the business of trafficking ghosts and selling demons. If you want to, you don't need to learn very advanced skills, just knowing some basics to defend yourself is enough."
As he spoke, he handed over a slightly old, yellow-leather-bound booklet to me. I took it eagerly, and upon looking, I saw that it was titled "Wudang Five Elements Skills". I opened it and saw that it was not only in traditional characters but also in classical Chinese. With my level of education at the time, being able to understand simple classical Chinese combined with vernacular Chinese was already good; pure classical Chinese was truly a headache!
"Master, do you want me to practice this?"
I asked.
"Do not shout," Lao Yu furrowed his brow, "In our school, accepting disciples is based on fate. There is a karmic connection between master and disciple from past lives. If in this life you encounter someone qualified to be your master, there will be a resonance. Without fate, one cannot become a master and disciple. Just call me Lao Yu from now on..."
I nodded hurriedly, and after taking a sip of tea, he continued, "If you practice this set of martial arts consistently, not only will it regulate the body's energy, but it will also strengthen the body. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water correspond to all things in the world. Within the human body, wood corresponds to the liver, fire to the heart, earth to the spleen, metal to the lungs, and water to the kidneys. Learning how to control the energy of the five elements can nourish the body's internal organs. At the same time, wood also corresponds to the soul, fire to the spirit, earth to the will, metal to the essence, and water to ambition. This represents the five wisdoms of humans. If you can control the energy of the five elements, you will also understand the rules between the soul and spirit. Of course, there are many interpretations of the energy of the five elements that you can practice one by one. I can also give you this book. If there is anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me. It's now five o'clock, the sun will rise soon, this is the most abundant time for the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In the future, you should meditate every morning at five o'clock, understand?"
I nodded repeatedly, but in truth, I didn't understand at all. It seems that even though the master teaches the disciple, in the end, one still has to enlighten oneself.
"In a while, I will open the Qian Guang Mirror, and today I will let you see something new."
While speaking, Lao Yu stood up and took a mirror from behind the portrait of Master Han at his house. The mirror looked quite old, but its design was simple. The circular mirror was about half the size of a face, with a yin-yang diagram on the back, made of what seemed to be copper. After experiencing a few things, I had some insight and understood that this mirror probably had an extraordinary origin.
"This is the treasure passed down from the Master, called the Qian Guang Mirror. The yin-yang diagram on the back allows it to reflect evil spirits and dispel negative thoughts from people after a certain method is applied."
After speaking, Lao Yu took the Qian Guang Mirror and walked into the courtyard. I hurried to follow him. He sat cross-legged in the center of the courtyard and then recited something while drawing a few strokes on the mirror's surface with his finger. He then placed the Qian Guang Mirror on his lap, closed his eyes, and formed a lotus hand gesture with his hands on his knees.
I didn't understand anything about this aspect of Daoism, I was just curious. After about ten minutes, I suddenly heard the portrait of the Master in the main hall vibrate. I turned and saw that the incense in the censer was burning rapidly, much faster than the regular speed.
A gust of wind blew in front of me. It wasn't cold, but I felt something was amiss.
When I turned to look at Lao Yu again, I saw that he had opened his eyes!
Without saying a word, he pointed his index and middle fingers at the Qian Guang Mirror. I wasn't sure if it was the reflection of the mirror or if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it seemed like a golden light had appeared on the mirror.
"How can evil acts suppress righteousness."
I seemed to hear a voice, but it was chaotic and sounded very old. It seemed to be coming from the mirror, but I wasn't sure.
Lao Yu raised his fingers and pointed at his brow, and then began to recite a spell. This time, I could see clearly! The mirror was indeed emitting light, and the wind in the courtyard was getting stronger. I quickly retreated to hide behind the main hall's door.
"Please, Master!"
It was Lao Yu's voice. In that moment, I seemed to see a blurry figure light up behind Lao Yu, but when I quickly rubbed my eyes, I couldn't see anything.
The light from the mirror was very bright, and the wind in the courtyard was constantly blowing. Lao Yu's body was trembling slightly, as if he couldn't sit still. Suddenly, without knowing what had happened, all the jars and pots in the courtyard cracked instantly. The sound startled Master Han and Fatso.
"What's going on?"
Fatso ran over, but when I turned to answer, I was stunned by his current appearance. His face was painted with gold pigment, and there was a red dot in the middle of his eyebrows, giving him the look of a clown.
"Why do you look like this?"
I smiled wryly.
"Master Han taught me a skill, but never mind me, what's going on?"
Even Fatso seemed embarrassed and quickly diverted the topic elsewhere.
"Looks like you've gotten into a fight with someone using magic," Master Han said, surprised.
Magic fight? The term sounded fresh to me. I and Fatso had only seen magic fights in movies on videotapes, where the sorcerers shoot lasers at each other. I never expected to see a real magic fight in front of me; it was really surprising.
"Don't speak, we'll know soon enough!"
Master Han also seemed a bit nervous, just as he finished speaking, the strong wind in the courtyard suddenly stopped, and I saw the golden light in the qian guang mirror darken, followed by strange black energy floating out! There really was black energy floating out from the mirror, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me!
Old Yu pressed his right hand on his left hand's back, and then pressed his left hand palm on the qian guang mirror, but the mirror didn't break! And he even blocked the black energy, after a while, the momentum on Old Yu gradually subsided, and the portrait of the ancestor in the main hall shook slightly.
"It's over!"
Master Han said as he walked quickly, Old Yu gasped for breath, looking very tired, and I saw the qian guang mirror return to normal after he opened his hands. He slowly stood up from the ground and said, "Doesn't seem to be from our local people."
Fatso and I dared not interrupt, Master Han frowned and asked, "Foreign? From where?"
"It seems like Thai witchcraft, but not certain yet. The opponent was fierce, just as I opened the qian guang mirror, they found out. They sent an evil spirit to attack, so I invited the ancestor to suppress its evil energy."
"Hmph, ever since the end of the Vietnam counterattack, these foreign witches have been getting more and more arrogant. Did he send the troublemaking ghost?"
Master Han snorted, looking a bit angry.
"Most likely, but it's strange, how could a small mountain be targeted by foreign witches? But this time, I restrained his sharpness, so he won't dare to cause trouble for now. You prioritize practicing the 'Wudang Five Elements Technique' that I've given you, having self-protection is crucial for a safe retreat. Alright, I'll rest inside for a bit, I've exhausted my energy."
Master Han accompanied Old Yu into the main hall, and Fatso and I exchanged glances. Suddenly, Fatso said, "Have you been fooling around with a Thai girl behind my back?"
"Get lost! I've never been abroad!"
I scolded him with a glare.
"Anyway, it's always good to learn some skills from Master Han. Whatever, I won't talk to you, I've only finished half my makeup..."
He waved his hand and hurriedly walked away. Curiously, I asked, "What did Master Han teach you?"
"I have no idea, something called divine striking!"
The reason why Master Han said the Thai witches were arrogant, here's the story about the struggle between China, Thailand, and Vietnam, which happened around the same time as the Vietnam counterattack.
This incident was widely circulated when we were young, and it is said that China ended up losing. It's said that when the troops were fighting, many Vietnamese and Thai witches also got involved privately. Some books have recorded this, and many PLA soldiers at that time had seen inexplicable monsters and encountered hexes and attacks from poisonous insects. Later, experts from China intervened, but ended up losing.
The reason seems to be the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, where many old wizards in China were persecuted. The heritage, ancient books, and magical tools were destroyed, resulting in insufficient strength.
Anyway, Fatso and I don't know the truth, but after that, I did have encounters with Thai and Vietnamese witches, but that's another story.
I studied under Old Yu for a month, and the progress was not significant, but Old Yu returned to Beijing on time. I often shuttled between Master Han's place and home.
The matter of catching earth creatures and searching for treasures was delayed for a while, until someone came to Shanghai, which motivated me and Fatso again. That person was Li Dunzhu...