Chapter 32: Soul Guiding Lantern

My father lit a cigarette, as if he was comforting my mother and also comforting himself. “Fifteen years old, leaving at fifteen is fine. Fifteen is not that young anymore. A boy should be independent. When I was thirteen, I was already doing work for others. Besides, it is not like there is anything meaningful about staying by your parents’ side. Look at the eldest son of Old He in the neighboring village. He has become very successful. I heard he is an official in the city. That son also left home early to study. Now he does not even have time to come back often. I think it is fine. Third Child, just obediently become Master Jiang’s disciple.”

Living in this village with my son until he is fifteen, and after that he would only be unable to stay constantly by our side. My mother felt a little comfort after hearing this. She agreed with my father’s view. Although she did not understand what future a Daoist could have, she did not doubt that Master Jiang was capable.

“Alright. Since Master Jiang has said so, I feel relieved. You know, when a child is still so young and has to leave me, my heart hurts like it is being cut apart. Third Child, from now on Master Jiang is your master. Even if you do not listen to your parents, you must listen to your master and learn his skills properly,” my mother said gently as she tried to comfort me.

In any case, it was already a settled matter that I would become Old Man Jiang’s disciple. Even the Red Army soldiers could not always be heroic and fearless. I let out an exaggerated sigh, treating it as acceptance. As for leaving at fifteen, it felt too far away for me to care about right now.

“Brat.” My father could not help but smack me when he saw my pretentious expression, but in any case, the thorn in his and my mother’s heart had finally been pulled out.

“The matter of Third Child joining our lineage will be discussed in a few days. A proper auspicious date must be chosen. For now, we still need to deal with Second Sister’s issue. Tomorrow Third Child will come with me to the township. Since he is already my disciple, he should also broaden his experience. But I still have one more thing to do,” Old Man Jiang said simply.

When my mother heard that I would be going out with Old Man Jiang tomorrow, she was frightened. However, she did not dare interfere with his serious work. Under his repeated instructions, she brought over some items for him.

Old Man Jiang began working in the courtyard with those materials. As his disciple, I naturally had to watch. If I had tried staying up that late before, my father would have beaten me for sure. But today, with my master protecting me, my parents could only let it go.

Gradually, I could tell what he was making. He was making a lantern.

I had to admit, Old Man Jiang was very skillful with his hands. The lantern he made was extremely delicate, but its style was a bit strange. It was a long white lantern, the kind usually hung in front of a coffin.

After finishing the lantern, Old Man Jiang examined it carefully, then satisfied, he took up a cinnabar brush and began drawing on it. I could not resist my curiosity and asked, “Master, what is this lantern for? Is it for me to play with?”

“You want to play with this? Since you like the Soul Guiding Lantern, take it then,” Old Man Jiang laughed and tried to shove it into my hands.

I quickly stepped back. Soul Guiding Lantern. Just hearing the name made it sound like something bad. I would be crazy to play with it.

“Master, what is this actually used for?” I asked after keeping a safe distance, still curious.

“This is used to guide your second sister’s soul back. Your second sister has lost one soul and four po spirits. She has been missing part of her soul for some time. Without a Soul Guiding Lantern, it would be difficult to bring it back. And if a soul stays in the wilderness too long, it becomes weak. With this lantern leading the way, her returning spirit will have an easier path,” Old Man Jiang explained while carefully painting cinnabar symbols on the lantern. In my eyes, those markings looked like random ghost scribbles that I could not understand at all.

“You want to know what I am drawing, right?” Old Man Jiang turned and asked me, as if my curiosity pleased him.

Seeing him ask, I nodded quickly. I was genuinely curious why drawing random patterns could create such strange effects.

“Ghosts and humans do not perceive light in the same way. It is not simply that a human holding a lantern can be seen by ghosts. What I am drawing are transformation runes. They convert yang fire into yin light that ghosts can perceive. Apart from these runes, some lamp oils can also achieve this effect, but your family cannot afford them,” he explained in detail. The more I listened, the more mysterious his abilities seemed.

After finishing the lantern, Old Man Jiang kicked me on the backside. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow you come with me to the township to work.”

I was not angry at all. In fact, I happily went to sleep. Going with him tomorrow meant I did not have to go to school. After laughing in my heart three times, I suddenly felt that being his disciple was not such a bad thing after all.

Early the next morning, I got up quickly. Children always have a strange curiosity about the unknown, and very little fear.

That was also why when I was previously surrounded by a hundred ghosts, I only became weak but did not lose my soul. It was because I was still young. Aside from a few very special things, I had almost no fear of anything.

Without fear, the mind remains stable and the aura remains steady. Those wandering ghosts could not do much to me in a short time.

My second sister was different. She was extremely afraid of that female ghost, which caused her soul to be pushed out. She relied entirely on willpower to resist. So there was truth in the idea that being frightened can cause one to lose their soul. Fear destabilizes the spirit, which is like wanting to flee.

Enough talk. I got up excitedly, only to find that Old Man Jiang was already in the courtyard. He was practicing martial arts.

At the time, I did not know it was Tai chi. I only saw him moving slowly in the courtyard, and my attention could not help but be drawn in.

After a while, Old Man Jiang opened his eyes and saw me. He was not surprised. He casually wiped the sweat from his face and said, “I was practicing Tai chi just now. Was it nice to watch?”

“Yes, it just looks soft and weak.”

“Heh. Tai chi emphasizes the harmony of hardness and softness. Every pause and movement contains deep principles. Even spending a lifetime may not be enough to truly master it. What would a kid like you understand?” Old Man Jiang was not angry at all. There was no need to argue with a child who understood nothing.

After breakfast, Old Man Jiang took me out. When we met curious villagers, he simply told them I was his adopted son and told them to ask my parents for the reason.

Since I would be staying here until I was fifteen, some kind of identity explanation was necessary. But Old Man Jiang was too lazy to think of a proper excuse, so he pushed everything onto my innocent parents and let them deal with the villagers’ curiosity.

In the mountain village in October, mornings were often covered in thick fog. By the time we reached the township, the fog had already dispersed. Walking along the rural path, Old Man Jiang, who had been observing the fields and the occasional passing young women, finally turned to look at me.

He said seriously, “Third Child, I know the vengeful spirit came because of you, but I do not know the full details. Now take me to the place where you first encountered the evil event, and tell me everything that happened that night without missing a single detail.”

Seeing how serious he was, I did not dare be careless. I immediately told him everything that happened that night, including the dream I had.

After listening, Old Man Jiang let out several surprised sounds of “eh” in a row. Then he suddenly pulled me over, opened my collar, and carefully examined the back of my head.

I knew there was a birthmark on the back of my head, blood red like an eye, but as I grew older it had faded. Now it was probably just a faint ring.

“Damn kid, you actually opened your heavenly eye while in a confused state. That level of spiritual perception is rare,” Old Man Jiang could not help but exclaim.

I looked at him in confusion, but this time he did not seem interested in explaining. Instead, he directly told me to lead him to the graveyard.

Relying on my vague memory, I led him through winding paths to the place where I had encountered the evil event. Unfortunately, it had been too dark that night and I had been wandering randomly, so it took quite a while before we finally found it.

When I saw the familiar bamboo grove again and the graveyard not far away, even though it was broad daylight, I still felt a chill rising in my heart.

“Third Child, listen carefully. From now on, you may treat this place as an ordinary scenery and view it normally. Or you may feel compassion and sincerely pity the loneliness of the dead. Or you may even recite your school texts and focus completely on them. But under no circumstances can you show even the slightest fear. Even if the sky collapses, you must treat it as nothing,” Old Man Jiang said sternly when he saw my nervousness.

But at that moment I was extremely sensitive. I could not help but grab the corner of his clothes and asked for the first time very sincerely, “Master, is there danger? Is that why you are telling me this?”

“What danger could there be? I am telling you this so you remember that in any situation, you must not allow fear to arise easily. You must maintain clarity of mind. Understand?” After saying this, he took my hand and walked straight toward the bamboo grove.

That night, because it was too dark, I had not seen things clearly. Only now did I realize that the bamboo grove was on a gentle slope. The graveyard lay at the bottom of the slope, and on the other side was another bamboo grove. Behind it was a steep cliff, and only one path led directly into the graveyard.

There were no farmlands around the graveyard. The edge of the bamboo grove where I had stood that night happened to be near that path leading in. My father and the others had found me on that road. If I had gone through the bamboo grove instead…