I am a swordsman in a strange city

Chapter 3: Spiritual Ceremony [Overnight Stay at the Mountain Temple]

It was a midsummer night and a sultry day, but Pei Ju felt that the wind from the ceiling fan made him feel cool.

His throat seemed to be frozen and he couldn't make a sound, but he knew in his heart that Grandpa must never turn around and look at Xiaoqiu. He was very afraid that Grandpa would turn around, but fortunately, Grandpa didn't.

Master Pei turned halfway around and said nonchalantly, "Since Xiaoqiu is scared and doesn't want to go in, then let's not go in. Let's play a game."

"Okay, okay, I love playing games the most."

Pei Ju immediately thought of what his grandfather was going to do, but he was trying to stop him in his heart.

Because he knew that his grandfather was going to perform a spiritual ceremony.

The reason why the Pei family's Sword Hall has been able to stand for so many years is that it has a unique spiritual ritual called "Staying Overnight at the Mountain God Temple". But now, there is a "ghost" here, and this "ghost" has controlled two people. There were originally four people, and three of them have been controlled by the "ghost". How can my grandfather, who is alone, defeat them?

He couldn't speak, but tried hard to make a sound, but all he could make was a gurgling sound in his throat.

But Mr. Pei seemed not to hear it.

Pei Ju soon realized that his grandfather already knew everything and knew that there was a "ghost" here, but his grandfather still requested this spiritual ceremony. He knew what his grandfather was thinking.

Grandpa wants to save everyone. This is his inner obsession.

Moreover, it was obvious that Xiaoqiu had been possessed by a ghost, and ordinary methods were no longer effective.

"You guys come with me."

Master Pei brought the three of them to an octagonal table at the back. The table was not against the wall and was equipped with four benches. There were incense burners and fruit offerings on the table.

The incense sticks in the incense burner had all burnt out, and the offerings were a little dry.

In addition, there is a small brazier, the size of two adult palms.

A bunch of incense, a stack of straw paper, a box of matches, an old oil lamp, and a pair of black scissors with a red rope wrapped around the handle.

In addition, the most attractive thing is the thing covered by the black cloth. Pei Ju knew that there was a shrine under the black cloth, but Master Pei Si did not lift the black cloth.

Fourth Master Pei came to the seat on the east side, extended his hand to point out other seats, and said, "Madam Wen, please take a seat."

"I'll sit here." Xiao Qiu immediately sat down on the west bench opposite Mr. Pei Si. She seemed to be excited now.

Mr. Pei spoke in a low voice with lowered eyebrows. He was still polite, but obviously avoided eye contact. Then he picked up the matchbox, took out a match, and with a click, he lit the oil lamp. A tiny yellow light appeared on the lamp.

"To play this game, you have to be quiet and there can't be too bright lights." Master Pei went to turn off the lights.

"Okay, okay, I just like playing games in the dark." Xiao Qiu answered excitedly and quickly.

With a snap, the black filament of the incandescent bulb went out, and the room instantly fell into darkness, with only an oil lamp on the table.

Master Pei returned to the table, took out another stick of incense, lit it on the oil lamp, shook it, extinguished the flame, and inserted it into the incense burner, saying, "Tiger, please eat."

Pei Ju and Mrs. Wen were sitting on their respective benches without moving. Only Xiao Qiu left the bench and leaned towards the middle of the table, as if she wanted to see more clearly, or out of curiosity.

"What is covered by that black cloth?" Xiao Qiu asked curiously. Her eyes were moving asymmetrically, which looked extremely strange under the light of the oil lamp.

At this moment, Mr. Pei Si's sleeve happened to block her eyes from looking at him.

Mr. Pei ignored him and took out three more pieces of straw paper, lit them on the lamp, and put them into the small brazier. The room suddenly became brighter.

Master Pei Si picked up the black scissors with red cords around the handles, cut off a small section of his hair and the nail of his thumb, and threw them into the fire. He said, "Cut off a section of your hair and nails as well."

The hair and nails burning in the fire gave off a burnt smell.

"Okay, okay." Xiao Qiu couldn't wait any longer. She pulled out a handful of her hair, bit off her nails with her teeth, and threw herself into the brazier. This crazy feeling made Pei Ju jump with fear.

Mrs. Wen followed. She said nothing, her eyes unknowingly fixed. She calmly took the scissors and cut her hair and nails. Pei Ju did as he was told, though he felt uneasy. He knew that entering a spiritualistic ritual was a dangerous undertaking. It magnified one's weaknesses, and one might even forget who they were. He might even transgress taboos and be devoured by the spirits he was communicating with, or become addicted and never awaken.

But there, the "ghosts" can be fully exposed and then killed. He felt that his grandfather wanted to kill the ghosts in there.

However, if there is a spiritual ceremony, there are its own taboos and rules. If grandpa takes a wrong step, he may die there.

Fortunately, although he had never been to a "spiritual ceremony field", he had heard from his grandfather what the general situation of his own ceremony field was like.

As he thought of this, he could already hear his grandfather reciting a phrase in the local dialect of Xijiang: "Mountain Lord, we have missed our place to stay due to our haste on the road. Please allow us to rest in the temple for one night. We will offer incense and offerings at dawn."

As Mr. Pei Si finished speaking, Pei Ju seemed to hear a faint hint of sinister laughter in his ears.

There was a sense of anticipation in the voice, or a feeling that something had been long awaited and was finally here.

Then his head sank, and his whole consciousness seemed to be lifted up. He floated in the air and saw a small ball of fire in the darkness.

As we got closer, we discovered a fire burning somewhere in a somewhat dilapidated mountain temple.

His consciousness drifted in, but he heard a faint voice in his ears. This voice was exactly the sinister laugh he had just heard.

[The crescent moon is like a hook, the stars are sparse and the clouds are thick]

Four people, due to various reasons, missed their destination and came to the Mountain God Temple to seek shelter.

They were a down-and-out swordsman wandering the Jianghu, a scholar heading to Beijing for an imperial examination, and two peddlers selling cloth and snacks for a living. Unbeknownst to them, a 'ghost' had also followed one of them in.

If they cannot identify this 'ghost', they will all be killed by the 'ghost'.

Then, his body sank and he felt himself entering a body, and everything in front of him became clear.

In the Tiger Temple, there was a fire. On the east side sat a swordsman with an unshaven beard, messy hair, and dirty clothes. He was called a swordsman because he was holding a sword in his arms. At this moment, he was sleeping against the wall. No one knew whether he was really asleep or pretending to sleep.

In addition, there were two peddlers, each with two loads of goods placed against the wall.

They sat huddled together, the younger one squatting on the other side of the fire, toasting a piece of bread in his hand.

When he came in, he immediately understood his identity. He was a scholar, and he discovered that he still had memories of his ego.

He stood there motionless. One of the four people was a ghost. He wanted to call the sleeping swordsman because he instinctively felt that the swordsman was his grandfather.

I just thought that Xiaoqiu and Madam Wen were women, and now they are gone, so who are they?
So he started to move, but then stopped.

Because he remembered what his grandfather said: "Everything you see in the psychic ceremony is both real and fake."

"We are merely our consciousnesses projected into a scene that may have once existed. Those people are merely shells."

Mrs. Wen and Xiaoqiu were among the three of them.

The swordsman and the two peddlers,
Ghosts are among them.

Here, as a scholar who reads the books of sages, it is not easy to be invaded by ghosts and monsters, and you can scold the "ghosts" to make them appear. If the ghosts appear, they will be eaten by tigers.

My grandfather once talked about the abilities that scholars possess in this ceremony.

In this "spiritual ceremony field", the scholar is very important, and he actually has his own memories, so he can be sure that these are given to him by his grandfather as the master of the ceremony, so his grandfather has no self-memory here.

He stood there motionless, thinking all this through, and the pressure in his heart suddenly increased.

"If I can't find that ghost, Grandpa and I will die here!"

Pei Ju knew it clearly in his heart.

(End of this chapter)