Square Offering

Upon hearing Gonpo's words, Gemei felt her heart leap into her throat!

He almost thought he was hallucinating!

How is that possible?

Such a great thing just fell into my lap?!

Gonpo was actually willing to "share" his apprentice with him?

Gemei's eyes trembled as he stared intently at Gonpo. When he saw the smile on Gonpo's face and realized that what he had just heard was not a hallucination, he immediately nodded, afraid that Gonpo would change his mind. "I'm willing!"

"There's nothing I'd be unwilling to do!"

After saying those two sentences, Gemei immediately turned her head and looked at Zhou Yang hopefully.

"Hey, Aji!" Gonpo raised his voice, patted Gemei on the shoulder, and said to Zhou Yang in a condescending tone, "From now on, this will be your second master."

"The secret mantras he practiced, the offerings he knew, and the blessings accumulated in his mani piles will all be inherited by you in the future."

"You must treat him the same way you treat me. When he gets old, give him food, drink, and shelter. When he dies, you must personally escort him to heaven, making sure he goes there cleanly!"

Gonpo spoke with great confidence, as if his disciple had no choice but to obey his arrangements as the master.

But he knew in his heart that his relationship with Aji was not like that of an ordinary master and disciple.

Therefore, after explaining in this way, he still couldn't help but ask Zhou Yang, "Do you agree or not, Aji?"

He stood behind Gemei, speaking while winking vigorously at Zhou Yang.

This was because they were afraid that if Zhou Yang refused on the spot, he would lose face in front of his old neighbors.

How could I disobey my master's orders?

Zhou Yang smiled, then looked at Gemei and bowed respectfully, saying, "Second Master."

"Ah!" Gemei's wrinkled, sallow face suddenly flushed red, his wrinkles brimming with joy, making him look as if he had been rejuvenated, his eyes radiating vitality. "Good, good!"

He frantically searched his body.

After searching his entire body, he only found the pair of cymbals he had used before, and a string of prayer beads.

The prayer beads were something he used for his daily studies, nothing special, and it wasn't appropriate to give them to his new apprentice. So he handed the pair of cymbals to Zhou Yang: "These are for you!"

"I used to be a sky burial master at the temple, but I got sick and they wouldn't let me stay there anymore. This coin toss is something I brought from the temple; you take it!"

"I know many Linzang burial masters, tantric practitioners, and lamas in the monasteries of Linzang."

"If you follow me, follow me and Gonpo, and learn well, I will take you to see the Mani Forest. The sky burial masters who perform sky burials for monks live in the Mani Forest."

"I'll introduce you to all the great Eba I know from now on!"

Gemei felt that the gift she gave was far too cheap compared to the apprentice she had taken in.

So he used his own words as an embellishment, promising Aji a good future.

Zhou Yang did not refuse and accepted the cymbal that Gemei handed him.

This signifies the formal establishment of a master-disciple relationship between him and Gemei.

The cymbals rubbed against each other, making a soft, rustling sound.

His gaze lingered on them for only a moment before he saw a faint red light emanating from them—these cymbals were certainly no ordinary objects; they must have been imbued with Mantra Point.

Seeing "Aji" accept the pair of cymbals, Gemei felt a huge Shitou lifted from his shoulders. His smile deepened as he said, "Aji, since we're here today to protect Zeweng and prevent him from being killed by the Tsen Demon who followed us, let me teach you a kind of offering. ' Square Offering,' I'll teach you this!"

"When the ascetic bear-hatted monks practice at night in the wilderness, charnel grounds, or Ghost Lands, they often make the eight offerings."

"One of the offerings is the ' Square Offering '," Aji's voice came as promised.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yang's heart stirred.

Although Aji's explanation was simple, the information revealed in his words actually further indicated that this "Square Offering" was quite extraordinary!

Like Guan Village, this area harbors great terror after nightfall!

Ascetics wearing bear hats inevitably spend their nights outdoors, or even in charnel grounds.

Or even linger in a "Ghost Lands"!

This Ghost Lands, a place where evil spirits are clearly said to roam!

Staying in such a dangerous place, one would offer eight kinds of offerings.

The Square Offering is one of them.

In other words, Square Offering can play an important role in harsh environments! As expected of a sky burial master from a temple, the offerings he brought out were extraordinary!

Gemei continued, "This Square Offering is from a bear-hatted ascetic who practices the Chöd. He wants to offer his own flesh and blood to the ghosts and spirits in the Ghost Lands. He asked a sky burial master to go to the Ghost Lands with him and help him dissect his own flesh and blood to offer to the ghosts and spirits."

"Many people were afraid to go to that temple, so he assigned me to accompany him."

"When we got there, he taught me how to make this offering."

"I previously thought that Zeweng had really gone mad, but I never expected to arrange this offering for him."

"If I had known that Zeweng was possessed by the Tsen Demon, I would have used this offering on him beforehand. The Tsen Demon couldn't break through the Square Offering and therefore couldn't get close to him!"

Gonpo, standing to the side, saw Gemei talking more and more, as if he had no intention of letting go of his apprentice, and he suddenly felt a little regretful.

Gemei was far more knowledgeable than him; he had never even heard of what a "Square Offering" was.

If Aji and Gemei grow closer, won't he, as their master, be left out in the cold?

He regretted it more and more, but because he acted impulsively, the deed was done.

Even if Gonpo wanted to back out, he couldn't.

He then interjected sourly, "With this Four-Direction Offering, wouldn't the Tsen Demon be unable to appear? The Zeweng's madness was caused by that Tsen Demon!"

"We're all here today, and we've used the Square Offering, Tsen Demon won't come, and Zeweng will be normal—but tomorrow we won't be here, and we won't use the Square Offering, won't the Tsen Demon still haunt Zeweng?"

"Now we need to lure that Tsen Demon over and find out its origins. The Square Offering can only keep it outside the door, making it impossible for us to find it."

This offering is useless now!

"My ' Fire Ash Offering ' is still effective!"

"Aji, learn the ' Fire Ash Offering ' with me today. You can learn your other offering later!"

"It won't be useless, it will definitely be useful, truly useful!" Gemei subconsciously argued a few words, then suddenly realized something, turned her head and saw Gonpo's expression.

He paused for a moment, then laughed awkwardly.

He swallowed back all his words of defense.

"Snort!"

Gonpo held his head high, thinking that Gemei actually had some sense now.

Just then, Zhou Yang, oblivious to the situation, said, "Master, I can learn your Fire Ash Offering and Second Master's Square Offering together. I might be able to use them later." Gemei's eyes lit up. He didn't dare to speak and looked at Gonpo.

Gonpo glared at Zhou Yang: "You, you, you, are you really that clever?"

"Learn two things at once!"

"The Fire Ash Offering is very troublesome to make. If you learn this, and then learn the Square Offering, will you be able to remember it all?"

You haven't even learned to walk yet, and you're already trying to run!

"You can give it a try, Master." Zhou Yang said sincerely, "Even if you can't learn it all at once, just listen to it once and you'll have a better understanding."

"It will be much easier to learn after that."

"If we can all learn this now, when we attract the Tsen Demon later, we can first use the Fire Ash Offering to find its whereabouts, and then use the Square Offering to trap it. Wouldn't that be better?"

"Yes! That's a great idea!" Gemei couldn't help but praise, "Once we trap it, things will be much easier."

"Let Eba handle it!"

Gonpo knew the two men were right, so he could only wave his hands repeatedly, saying, "Learn it, learn it!"

Zeweng, who was tied up to the side, watched the interaction between the master and his two disciples with a hint of envy in his eyes. Although he had a wife, they were both quite Da Le when they married Zhima, and they had never had children.

Now that he is getting older, Zeweng is also considering the issue of succession.

Aji is a perfect candidate to take on as an apprentice.

The three sky burial masters all became his teachers, and the three families were united as one. With everyone working together, their ability to resist various disasters and risks would increase accordingly.

But Aji saved Zeweng's life, how could he ask the person who saved his life to become his apprentice?

Gonpo was also clearly unwilling to have another person take away his apprentice.

Zeweng pondered for a moment, then lowered his head.

A wave of drowsiness gradually washed over me.

Although Gonpo described the use of Fire Ash Offering as difficult, Zhou Yang, upon actually listening, realized that the offering was not complicated:

"Then take the ashes from the hearth and smear them on the palms, soles, front and back of the chest, forehead, and back of the neck of the person possessed by the Tsen Demon, and then fumigate these areas with mulberry smoke."

"After that, a needle was inserted into the palm of each hand and foot of the person to whom the offering was made, and beads of blood were squeezed out. Paper was then soaked in the blood and pasted onto the prayer flag."

"Thus, the Fire Ash Offering is complete." The Tsen Demon possesses the recipient without sensing anything amiss. After leaving the recipient, it leaves behind a trail of fire ash footprints wherever it goes.

Following Gonpo's instructions, Zhou Yang quickly set up the Fire Ash Offering.

Aji confirmed that the steps for Fire Ash Offering, as taught by Gonpo, were also correct without any errors.

Compared to the Fire Ash Offering, the application steps of the "Square Offering" are much more complicated.

The items displayed for supply and demand have become quite unusual.

For example, it may be necessary to obtain the ashes from the wick of an oil lamp.

This clump of ashes must be the residue left after the oil lamp cord has burned down after someone has been chanting mantras and incantations over an oil lamp.

Or it could be a bowl of blood, whether it's from humans or animals.

But this bowl of blood must be the leftovers from when it was offered to the spirits.

Such strange and unusual items would be difficult to gather even in Zeweng in a short time.

Fortunately, Gemei always kept these things at home. After teaching Zhou Yang the recipe for the Square Offering and the key points of its application, he hurriedly went home to fetch all the necessary items for arranging the offering.

Inside the fortified house, Zhima prepared butter tea and tsampa, along with dried meat, for the guests' lunch. Zeweng was exceptionally brave; he almost never refused any task involving dismantling corpses.

As a result, he received far more pay than Gonpo and Gemei.

Of the three body dismantlers, Zeweng was the wealthiest.

Even so, Zeweng's family still only eats one meal a day.

They themselves are reluctant to eat foods like dried meat.

After the meal, Gonpo sat in a corner, his lips moving as he began to chant scriptures.

Bound tightly, with black ash smeared on the top and back of his neck, Zeweng slumped his head, half asleep.

Jiekan sat cross-legged in front of him, upright, his face solemn.

No unusual movement in the room escaped Jiekan's eyes.

Zhou Yang leaned against the wall and hid in the darkness, rubbing the warm "Gangba Aga" chacha in his hand, his eyes half-open and half-closed, seemingly also in a daze.

"Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hum..."

In the otherwise silent room, even the barely audible chanting of Gonpo became remarkably clear. "Whoosh!"

Just then, a gust of wind suddenly swept in through the doorway, which was covered by a black felt cloth.