Wild Mount Mao, Casting and Countering Spells

"One pair of incense and candles, two stacks of joss paper, and a pack of gold ingots, right?"

Outside Heavenly Dao Temple, worshippers came and went, with people stopping at the stall from time to time to buy things.

Qian Hao had shaved off his stubble and slicked his hair back into a neat pompadour. He looked far more energetic now, almost like a completely different person from the dispirited middle-aged man who had been bent on dying just days ago.

With his head lowered, he swiftly picked out incense, candles, and paper offerings for customers, his hands and feet quicker than anyone's.

"Two pairs, right?" Qian Hao looked up and asked, then casually advised, "Want to get larger ones? The large red candles burn longer, and the incense offering will be more substantial too."

"Then give me the larger ones."

"Sure." Qian Hao lowered his head and rummaged around, then suddenly froze. "Huh? We're out of stock. Wait a moment."

He turned and called out to Little Bai, who was bouncing a ball in the courtyard.

"Little Bai, go find your mother. Tell her to get a pair of large red candles from the storeroom."

"Okay."

Little Bai answered, tossed aside his ball, and ran into the courtyard on his short little legs.

"Mom!"

Perhaps Yang Feng had lived at Heavenly Dao Temple for some time now, but she was clearly much calmer than before.

Though she occasionally still drifted off and her eyes retained a trace of evasiveness, she was at least no longer crazed and terrified at the sight of people as she had been before.

Qian Hao continued attending to the worshippers out front, sometimes even pointing the way for those who had come to burn incense—which side held the offering table, which side was for adding incense offerings, and which side was for seeking safety talismans.

What Huang Bai had done when he caught ghosts late at night had spread quickly through the public housing estate.

Now, not only were the residents of this estate coming over, but people from elsewhere had begun arriving by reputation as well, saying that the newly opened Heavenly Dao Temple here was remarkably efficacious.

By noon, Qian Hao finally had a moment to himself and sat by the entrance to catch his breath.

Not long afterward, Huang Bai emerged from the side hall and glanced at him.

"How is it? Getting used to it?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

"Keep it up. In about fifteen years, you'll have paid off your debt." Huang Bai patted Qian Hao's shoulder, wearing an expression that said he had high hopes for him.

Qian Hao's expression stiffened on the spot. After a moment, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

"I'll pay it all back."

After a long silence, he said quietly,

"But... thank you."

Those words of thanks were sincere.

If Huang Bai had not pulled him down from that rope, he would probably have become 2442's newest hanging ghost by now.

Huang Bai waved a hand.

"You're welcome."

"If you really want to thank me, tell me your story."

Qian Hao raised his head and watched the crowds passing outside the temple gates, his expression slightly dazed.

"That has to start with Uncle Ying, thirty years ago..."

Uncle Ying had been a descendant of Mount Mao. As the times changed, his lineage had gradually declined.

"At the time, I was still a martial arts stuntman with the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. After we got to know each other, Uncle Ying wanted to film the stories of those who came before him, so I introduced him to the entertainment industry."

The two of them filmed movies while catching ghosts. Their performances were half real and half fake, yet the effects were astonishing, and their films instantly swept across Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the mainland.

Then Uncle Ying died of cancer, supernatural films declined, and Qian Hao's career plummeted like a stone.

"Uncle Ying was a descendant of Mount Mao. Who was his master?"

"I think his name was... Qiu Sheng? It should have been that name."

Qian Hao frowned as he thought. Too much time had passed, and his memories had gradually grown hazy.

"So that was it." Huang Bai roughly understood.

Uncle Nine from Uncle Ying's films had truly had a real-life counterpart. He had been a person who genuinely existed.

"I'll leave the temple affairs to you. I'm heading out."

"Daoist priest, have you found Zhong Jiu?" Qian Hao called after Huang Bai. "I'm pretty good at fighting. If you find Zhong Jiu, I can help."

"We're investigating."

Huang Bai's figure gradually receded, while Qian Hao once more gathered his spirits.

He no longer sought death. Huang Bai's arrival had given his life meaning again, and his days something to look forward to.

Twin ghost souls, evil arts zombies, wicked cultivators—it was like an exhilarating film.

This was what life was supposed to mean.

From this day onward, he would begin a new life, just like when he had been with Uncle Ying all those years ago.

Inside the public housing estate.

A-You had changed into Daoist robes for the first time in a long while and sat quietly, waiting for Huang Bai to come.

His home did not have an altar like Zhong Jiu's. It only enshrined a spirit tablet for Patriarch Huaguang.

Before long, Huang Bai arrived at his door.

"Fellow Daoist Chen." Huang Bai solemnly bowed.

"Please, sit." A-You said with a smile. "I've neglected too many of my skills over the years. Zhong Jiu's cultivation may have already surpassed mine. From here on, it'll depend on you."

"I'll do my best." Huang Bai did not overpromise.

"Before we discuss Mount Mao arts, let me first explain Mount Mao methods."

"Almost no orthodox inheritors of Mount Mao remain. The Mount Mao of the past two centuries is the product of combining folk lineages, such as Mount Mei and the Lüshan Tradition. It is also called Wild Mount Mao or Southern Mount Mao."

"Mount Mao is internally divided into several branches: Five-Thunder Mount Mao, Heavenly Heart Mount Mao, Three-Mountain Mount Mao, and our Ghost-Refining Yin-Yang Mount Mao branch. Get up."

A-You rose to his feet and slapped a yellow talisman onto his chest.

"Take this!"

A-You gave a sharp shout. Golden light spread from the yellow talisman, seemingly blessing him with some mysterious power, as he threw a punch at Huang Bai.

The fist came with a whistling rush of wind.

"Good!"

Huang Bai met it head-on.

Bang!

Their fists collided, and a crack like exploding firecrackers burst through the air.

"Huh?"

Huang Bai was startled. A tremendous force surged toward him, forcing him back several steps.

What terrifying strength.

The two exchanged several more moves in rapid succession. Chen You's strength was absurd, numbing Huang Bai's fists and reddening the webbing between his thumbs and forefingers.

"This is a Mount Mao art—the Thousand-Catty Weight Talisman."

A-You tossed Huang Bai a talisman and had him stick it on himself.

After Huang Bai attached it, he exchanged blows with A-You again.

This time, A-You's fists contained not a trace of strength. They were light as cotton, and Huang Bai easily knocked him down.

"This is the Ten-Thousand-Catty Support Talisman, the counter to the former."

"The secret arts of my branch emphasize [where there is casting, there is a counter], just as all things generate and restrain one another. If there is something that presses people down, there is something that relieves that pressure; if there is something that suppresses ghosts, there is something that breaks that suppression. Just as heaven and earth generate and restrain one another, so do spells."

"Your arts are fierce, but you lack common sense when it comes to spell duels. If you do not understand the techniques of fighting with spells, it will be easy for you to suffer a crushing loss."

A-You climbed up from the ground. The yellow talisman on his body had long since turned to ash. As he dusted off the ashes, he spoke.

"That's true." Huang Bai deeply agreed.

If he had known the countermeasure earlier, he might have cleaved Zhong Jiu to death in a single exchange.

Seeing that Huang Bai was taking it in, A-You grew more serious.

"There is more than one way to cast and counter Mount Mao spells. Even if you do not know the countermeasure, as long as you know a spell's weak point, you can break it."

"For the next while, study with me. How to recognize talismans, how to form hand seals, how to walk the Steps of the Dipper, how to open an altar, how to dismantle whatever formation you encounter—you need to make up for all of it from the beginning."

Huang Bai did not possess a Mount Mao Talisman Register, so he could not cast Mount Mao talismans and incantations, or else their effects would be poor.

By the time this branch had passed down to A-You, the method of petitioning the patriarchs for talismanic ordination had already been lost.

Still, as long as Huang Bai learned the relevant countermeasures and the secrets to identifying the weak points of Mount Mao incantations, that would be more or less enough.

In the days that followed, Huang Bai came every day to learn the Steps of the Dipper, spell hand seals, altar-opening rites, ghost identification, and other knowledge.

Since crossing through several worlds, this was the only time he had systematically studied the knowledge of a spell lineage.

A-You taught with great seriousness as well.

First, the spell lineage was in decline, and it was truly not easy to encounter someone willing to learn and capable of learning. Second, because of what had happened with Zhong Jiu, he ultimately still felt guilty in his heart.

Huang Bai learned quickly too.

He had cultivated the Corpse-Release Immortal Art, and his divine soul had always been clearer than that of ordinary people. Many things took others a long time to practice, but after seeing them once, he could already grasp seventy or eighty percent of the fundamentals.

"Let's use 2442 as your subject. Once you unravel the layout of that haunted house, you'll have truly crossed the threshold."

A-You thought very highly of Huang Bai.

He estimated that within half a year, Huang Bai would successfully master the relevant fundamentals.

That night, however, Huang Bai arrived at the haunted house in 2442.

(Please vote with monthly passes.)