The father and son had both been born in the Year of the Dragon.
But did that mean anything?
Plenty of people were born in the Year of the Dragon.
There were only twelve zodiac signs in all. You could find people born under any of them everywhere.
Zhang Rong frowned. "I grew up in Qingyang Temple and have read plenty of Daoist scriptures and folk writings. I've never heard of any spell connected to the zodiac."
Master Yan said, "With many things, it isn't about whether they exist, but whether anyone believes in them. I remember when I was young, all sorts of charlatans ran rampant. In the countryside, many people with mental illnesses couldn't afford treatment, and these charlatans could invent countless ways to deceive their families."
"There were two charlatans who said to put the patient straight into a large steamer, fill it with water, and wait for it to boil. They claimed that would cure the mental illness and drive out the evil spirits. Do you think anyone believed that nonsense?"
I found it absurd. "Even if someone had never been to school, no matter how ignorant they were, surely they couldn't believe something that ridiculous..."
People suffered burns when temperatures exceeded what their bodies could withstand. Didn't they understand such basic common sense?
Master Yan smiled. "Someone actually did believe it, and they ended up torturing the patient to death. This was a real case. It even made the news at the time, and then there was another crackdown on our line of work."
"Those bastards would make money any way they could. As long as someone believed them, they could invent all kinds of bizarre spells. They dragged us down with them, getting us labeled as feudal superstition too. Tell me that isn't unfair."