In a small village called Hongye Village in Chongqing City, the village is located in a remote mountain, far away from the city, which means far away from the hustle and bustle. My parents are also two ordinary farmers. Hongye Village is not big, with less than 500 people in the whole village. However, there are advantages to having more people and there are advantages to having fewer people. Hongye Village is like this. Basically, the people in the village rarely have conflicts, and everyone is relatively harmonious. However, the place is a bit remote and backward. It takes two hours to get to the nearest county town from us.
In fact, the more backward a place is, the more likely it is to have things that are difficult to explain, that is, things that science cannot understand. For example, the saying of ghosts. In fact, according to common sense, we, the post-90s generation, should not believe in these superstitious words under the leadership of our motherland to overthrow all monsters and demons. But is this really just superstition
It all started with a story I heard about myself. It started when I was two years old. That day, the sun was shining brightly, and my father was doing farm work as usual. But as soon as he dug with a hoe, he felt something was wrong, because my father felt that he had dug up something hard. My father guessed that it was porcelain, so he quickly dug harder, because who knows, it might be an antique. This has happened several times in our village before. Villagers would dig up antiques, porcelain and the like, and then people from outside would come in to buy them, and usually at high prices, so my father was also very excited.
After digging for a while, they dug out things bit by bit. When my father took it out, he saw that it was a sealed jar. The jar was dark brown, two feet long and one foot wide, with some red runes on the outside. My father didn't pay attention to it, and the jar looked like it was worth a lot of money, so my father rushed home holding the jar.
But halfway through the run, he felt something was wrong, because the father felt like there was something inside, and there was a foul odor coming from the jar.
My father was also very puzzled, so he opened the jar himself. It would have been fine if he hadn't opened it, but he was shocked when he opened it. There was a dead baby inside. The baby was blue and purple all over, and it looked like it had died not long after being born. It was sleeping in the jar with its eyes closed and curled up.
My father was so scared that he had never encountered such a weird thing, so he quickly turned back to the place where he dug out the jar and buried it. After he came back, his heart was pounding and he was very worried. He didn't tell anyone else about this. At 12 o'clock that night, my father heard the sound of a baby in the yard. He asked my mother, and my mother said she heard nothing. So my father thought he was just scared today and had hallucinations.
But then, the crying appeared again the next day, and the crying became louder and louder. On the fifth day, my mother also heard it, and they were both very scared. But on the seventh night, strangely, there was no crying. Instead, I, who was only two years old at that time, started to have a high fever and kept crying. I have no memory of this.
Anyway, it's quite serious. I went to all the nearby hospitals, but they all said there's no cure. I don't know what kind of strange disease I've encountered. I'm the only child in my family for three generations. My father got angry when he heard that. You know, in rural areas in the past, a three-generation single child was not much less valuable than a giant panda today. If this one is gone, what if I give birth to a girl? And I'll have to pay a fine or something.
Just when everyone was about to have their hair turn white with anxiety, my father suddenly thought of the cans he dug up that day, and thought about so many strange things that happened in the past few days. He felt that my illness should be related to the dead baby. Thinking of this, my father immediately ran to the house of the more prestigious village chief. Because the village chief was old and knowledgeable, my father ran to the village chief's house and hurriedly told the village chief everything that had happened.
After hearing this, the village chief also frowned. This was really weird. He discussed it with my father for a long time but there was no solution. After all, he was not an expert. Later, the village chief said helplessly: "We can only ask a capable gentleman to come and take a look."
My father also nodded. In the past, the so-called "sir" referred to a capable person, such as a teacher. However, the "sir" at that time did not refer to a teacher, but a Yin-Yang master. There were many strange things in this world, especially in the countryside in the past. At that time, many Yin-Yang masters appeared. Unfortunately, after experiencing the **, there are fewer and fewer capable gentlemen out there, and most of them are just scammers now.
However, the village chief knew a capable gentleman. When the village chief's father passed away, he asked the gentleman to look at the Feng Shui. Later, their family's situation became better and better. When my father heard what the village chief said, he immediately asked where the gentleman was, and rushed over with my mother and me. My condition at that time really couldn't be delayed. They said that if I delayed for another day or two, I would have become demented, and there would be no subsequent stories. Ahem, let's continue.
I don't know what this gentleman's real name is, I only know his last name is Liu, and people outside call him Mr. Liu. I heard that he is very famous in this area, catching ghosts is a piece of cake for him, and there are even rumors that he has fought zombies, anyway, it's a pretty weird rumor.
Mr. Liu actually lives on a small hill about 50 miles away from our village. Behind the hill is a bamboo forest. There is a small wooden house standing alone on the hill. The hill is just big enough for a small wooden house and it looks quite elegant. When my parents saw the wooden house, they became excited and ran faster. When they arrived, they were about to knock on the door when the person inside opened it.
Mr. Liu opened the door and said, "Come in and talk first," then turned and went into the house. My parents did not hesitate. According to them, for my sake, they would have to go through mountains of swords and seas of fire, let alone enter a house.
After entering, I found that the interior was very elegant and the furniture was all made of bamboo. Mr. Liu was already sitting on a stool drinking hot tea.
When Mr. Liu saw my parents coming in, he smiled and said, "Come and sit down and have a cup of tea."
Mr. Liu looks to be in his 50s, with gradually graying hair and some wrinkles on his face, but his complexion is rosy and he looks energetic.
My parents didn't hesitate and sat down directly. However, they didn't drink tea. My father asked directly, "Mr. Liu, my child has been possessed by evil spirits. I hope you can save him."
Mr. Liu frowned hesitantly at this time. His father saw something and asked, "Mr. Liu, do you have any difficulties? As for money, my family is poor and can't afford anything. But if you don't mind, my family still has some coarse grains and can give some to Mr. Liu."
Mr. Liu was stunned when he heard what my father said. He did not answer my father directly. Instead, he beat around the bush and said with a sad face, "It's not that I don't want to help you two. I wonder if you have heard of the five disadvantages and three shortcomings."
"Five disadvantages and three shortcomings?" My father and mother looked at each other and asked in confusion, not knowing why Mr. Liu would say this.
"Oh, I guess you don't know this either. The so-called five disadvantages and three deficiencies refer to a destiny. The so-called five disadvantages are nothing more than 'widowhood, widowhood, loneliness, loneliness, and disability.' The three deficiencies, to put it bluntly, are 'money, life, and power.' And I have the deficiency of life." Mr. Liu had a calm look on his face when he said this.
"A friend of mine once told me that I haven't done much and I have twenty years left to live. In other words, as long as I continue to tell fortunes and exorcise demons, my life will become shorter and shorter." After saying this, Mr. Liu closed his eyes and said nothing more.
After hearing this, my parents fell silent. Indeed, if Mr. Liu continued to help my father, he would be risking his own life to save others. My parents are kind people and don't want Mr. Liu to lose his life in vain for me.
My father took one look at me lying in his arms and said, "What should I do? My child is still so young, I don't want him to die like this. How about this, my child recognizes you as his godfather. I heard that you have no children in this life, so please make an exception and save my child." This is what the village chief told my father before. Mr. Liu has never had children and has always wanted one.
Mr. Liu's eyes flickered, and he looked at me lying on the chair with a kind look, but he shook his head and said, "Godfather? Forget it, but I can consider taking this kid as my apprentice."
"No, if that's the case, won't he also have the five disadvantages and three shortcomings?" My mother, who had been silent on the side, spoke up. She had just heard about the horrors of the five disadvantages and three shortcomings, and she didn't want me to practice Taoism.
When my father heard this, he got a little angry. After all, it was good enough that Mr. Liu accepted me as his apprentice now. What if he gets in a bad mood and doesn’t want to accept me as his apprentice
Mr. Liu was fine with it, but nodded and said, "Five drawbacks and three deficiencies may not necessarily be a good thing, but they are not necessarily a bad thing either. You know, a blessing in disguise."
My father fell silent after hearing what Mr. Liu said. I guess my father was not very willing to let me follow Mr. Liu to practice Taoism. There are not so many ghosts to catch now. But he also knew the importance of the matter. Looking at Mr. Liu's attitude, he had already decided that if I didn't agree, he would definitely not save me. Although there would be one of the five disadvantages and three shortcomings, it was better than dying now. So my father gritted his teeth and agreed.
Seeing that my father agreed, Mr. Liu nodded and turned to look at my situation, but when he saw my condition, he gasped.
"Brother, what crime have you committed?" Mr. Liu looked at my father seriously and asked.
Next, my father told Mr. Liu everything that had happened to him. When Mr. Liu heard it, he started counting on his fingers.