The Invitation

"Om benza sato hung..."

Silently reciting the Vajrasattva Heart Mantra, Wang Qilin interlocked all ten fingers, extended his index fingers until they touched, then folded his hands inward and pressed his index fingers upright together. Next, he formed vajra fists, his right fist facing upward and his left covering it...

The Lin Syllable Mantra possessed great divine power, but it was very difficult to learn.

The Vajrasattva Heart Mantra was in Sanskrit. Even reading it aloud once was difficult, let alone memorizing the entire incantation.

And the Acala Vidyaraja Mudra was even harder. It was not a single hand seal, but fourteen fundamental seals:

The single-pronged vajra seal, treasure mountain seal, head seal, eye seal, mouth seal, heart seal, armor seal, lion's swift advance seal, flame seal, flame wheel stopping seal, conch seal, sword seal, snare seal, and three-pronged vajra seal!

These fundamental seals had completely different forms and no connection to one another, yet unleashing the mantra's power required performing every one of them.

Moreover, the faster one chanted and formed the seals, the stronger the mantra became.

If one merely recited the incantation syllable by syllable or performed the great hand seals one at a time, the Lin Syllable Mantra had little power.

But if one could chant like a rushing torrent and perform the great hand seals like flickering phantoms, the Lin Syllable Mantra's greatest power could connect heaven and earth, borrowing all their spiritual power!

It followed the same principle as certain other things: slow would not do. It had to be fast.

Wang Qilin memorized the Vajrasattva Heart Mantra after reading it once and learned the Acala Vidyaraja Mudra after practicing it once.

It could only be called a miracle.

However, he had already guessed that after the Furnace of Creation refined a technique, it engraved it in his sea of consciousness. That was why he had learned both the Lunar Soul-Severing Saber and the Lin Syllable Mantra after a single reading.

The Furnace of Creation was fucking awesome!

Of course, he had only learned them. He was still far from mastery.

The Lin Syllable Mantra differed from the Lunar Soul-Severing Saber Technique. It truly required proficiency to be useful, so he had to keep practicing.

Practicing the great hand seals had one benefit.

His fingers became very nimble, making musical instruments easier to learn.

As usual, once he learned the Lin Syllable Mantra, the golden Buddhist scripture turned into a fiercely burning flame.

Wang Qilin strode out the door.

His heart felt so light that he wanted to throw back his head and howl!

But while this mantra would help him deal with curses in the future, it did nothing to rescue the people inside the uncanny painting. Xie Hama had said that unless they possessed great divine powers, the only way to save those inside was to go in and pull them out.

None of them knew how to enter the painting, much less how to rescue people from it.

Thus, Wang Qilin wanted to ask Shi Zhoushan, and inquire about the curse on himself while he was at it.

He could not hesitate any longer. He had to investigate the curse and resolve it as soon as possible.

Just after he had this thought, Shi Zhoushan actually sent his subordinate, Wandering Star Xiang Wei, to deliver an invitation that very day.

Taking the invitation, Xu Da smiled at him. "Do you and Great Seal Shi share some kind of telepathic connection? Great Seal Shi wants you to join him in the county seat."

Xiang Wei said, "Indeed. General Huang Huaji personally approached Great Seal Shi to request recognition for your merits. He said you saved his entire family and eliminated a very powerful vengeful fiend. Great Seal Shi was delighted. As you haven't met your colleagues since becoming a Minor Seal, he decided to gather all five Minor Seals of Auspicious County for a meal."

Heidou tottered over to serve tea.

An adult's mischievous streak struck, and Xiang Wei deliberately frightened Heidou. "The Heaven-Listening Bureau employs child labor too? Boy, has your mother abandoned you?"

Heidou blinked, then skipped away.

Seeing this, Xiang Wei was about to make another joke or two when Wang Qilin put away the invitation. "Sorry for the trouble, Lord Xiang. I've received the invitation, and I'll be sure to visit Great Seal Shi in the county seat on time tomorrow. There's also something I'd like to ask you. You're my senior in the Heaven-Listening Bureau, so I hope you can offer some guidance."

Xiang Wei's gaze wandered. "What is it?"

"There seems to be a rather unpleasant rumor about the position of Minor Seal here in Crouching Dragon Township?"

At this, Xiang Wei threw back his head and laughed. "Haha, what rumor? Even if there is one, don't take it to heart. It's only a rumor."

Unwilling to give up, Wang Qilin wanted to ask more, but Xiang Wei kept laughing it off without letting anything slip.

Realizing he would get no inside information from this slippery old hand, he cupped his fists. "All right. It seems you're very busy, my lord, so I won't keep you. See you tomorrow."

Xiang Wei froze. This Minor Seal had some attitude. He wasn't even offering a meal?

He could only cup his fists and leave. In the courtyard, he spotted Heidou holding onto the door and looking at his horse, and felt the urge to tease him again. "Your mother doesn't want you anymore. Why don't you come with me?"

Heidou bit his lip and said nothing.

Wang Qilin said quietly, "Don't be afraid. Insult him. Your uncle will back you up."

Heidou poked his head out and said, "Your wife doesn't want you either. She wants Master Xu."

Country children all knew that to insult children, you targeted their parents; to insult adults, you targeted their spouses.

This was what they called striking someone right in the face and exposing their sore spots.

Xiang Wei's wife was a beautiful young married woman. Hearing this, Xu Da felt thoroughly pleased. "All that affection I gave you wasn't wasted."

By sheer accident, those words touched Xiang Wei's sorest spot.

His wife was young and beautiful, and the rough men of the Heaven-Listening Bureau were always looking to take liberties, so he had always hated people bringing her up.

Heidou's words darkened his expression. "You ill-mannered child! You dare insult an official?"

Heidou said timidly, "I wasn't insulting you. If I were, I wouldn't have said that."

Xiang Wei laughed angrily. "Still making excuses? Then what would you say if you were insulting me?"

Heidou thought for a moment, then jumped out and said, "Your mother doesn't want you anymore! She wants Grandpa Daoist, and now you've got another daddy."

This truly enraged Xiang Wei. He raised his riding whip and actually moved to lash him.

But the moment the whip swung out, a cold gleam flashed past.

Two pieces of the riding whip fell to the ground.

Xiang Wei stared in horror at Wang Qilin, who was slowly sheathing his saber, and could not help blurting out, "What a fast saber."

Wang Qilin said gravely, "Why are you being unreasonable, Lord Xiang? Everyone heard you. You told him to insult you, and only then did he do it."

Then he shook his head. "I've never heard a request like yours in my entire life."

Seeing Wang Qilin stand up for him, Xiang Wei knew he would gain nothing here. He squeezed his horse's flanks and left in a huff, reluctantly muttering before he departed, "Tomorrow's luncheon may begin quite early. Please don't be late, Lord Wang."

Watching his retreating figure, Xie Hama shook his head. "Lord Wang, Xiang Wei only bullied Heidou because he didn't know who he was. Why didn't you explain, instead of drawing your saber straightaway?"

Wang Qilin said, "I wasn't drawing my saber against him. I was drawing it against his master. The only reason I have three months left to live is that his master screwed me over!"

His hatred extended to everyone associated with the man.

Xie Hama understood. "Then you should have drawn your saber and cut off his little whip, not his riding whip!"

In the fourth lunar month, all things flourished, the vegetation grew steadily lush, and the spring breeze blew gently.

A broad river stretched across the land, its swift waters surging but still fairly clear.

Wang Qilin jumped onto a rock and looked toward the riverbed. The swaying water plants had sprouted new leaves too, bringing a tender green to the river.

The rock beneath his feet shifted, and several small grass carp darted out in alarm. At the sight of Wang Qilin's reflection, they were frightened into darting back again.

They reminded him of the grass carp at the station that had attained some cultivation. It was just as timid.

A ferryboat came rowing over, and the old man aboard called cheerfully, "Just one copper zhu each for a comfortable trip across! Come along, everyone!"

This was the Subduing Dragon River. Wang Qilin was taking Xu Da to the county seat to attend the banquet he had been invited to.

He boarded and handed the old man two copper zhu. Glancing at his official robes, the old man hurriedly put on a smile. "I couldn't, I couldn't! Lords of the Heaven-Listening Bureau ride free. It's the good fortune of three lifetimes for an old man like me to ferry you."

Xu Da waved a hand brusquely. "Keep it. We're honest officials. We don't bully the common people."

Wang Qilin sat down at the bow. He wedged his demonic saber into a gap between the planks and leaned against it as a backrest, leisurely admiring the river scenery.

Xu Da was looking too. After a while, he grew disappointed. "Haven't seen any big golden carp. Otherwise, we'd have a treat."

Wang Qilin said, "Shi Zhoushan has money. With him hosting, are you worried there won't be good food?"

Xu Da considered this. "True. Ah, I shouldn't have eaten breakfast."

He was quite annoyed that he would get less out of the free meal.

The old man worked his pole, and the ferry slowly left the dock.

A woman with a bundle slung over her shoulder and a bamboo basket in hand, dressed for a visit to relatives, asked, "Boatman, you travel this river all year round. Have you any interesting stories to tell us?"

The old man smiled. "Not many interesting ones, but plenty of frightening ones."

"Let's hear them," someone urged.

The old man said, "Everyone knows about what happened in Crouching Dragon Township, so I won't dwell on that. I'll tell you about something in Little Water Township."

"A woman drowned in Little Water Township some days ago, but her body was floating faceup on the water!"

"As the old saying goes, when the proper order holds, the woman is below and the man above; when that order is overturned, the man is below and the woman above. The same applies in the river. A woman's corpse floating facedown and a man's floating faceup is normal. If a woman's corpse floats faceup, a water ghost killed her. You mustn't retrieve a corpse like that. You have to let the fish, shrimp, and softshell turtles in the river eat it."

"The woman's family understood this and didn't dare touch her corpse, so they could only prepare a cenotaph with her clothes. But on the seventh day after her death, as they were about to seal the coffin, someone looked inside..."

"The woman was lying in the coffin!"

"With her eyes open!"