Chapter 292: It Turns Out to Be an Evil God

This relative told us that all of this actually starts from the Guanyin statue worshipped at Aunt Mei's (that is, Meng Xue's aunt's) home.

Not long after they enshrined the Guanyin statue, every few days the Guanyin statue would appear in Aunt Mei family's dreams, demanding they eat the three sacrificial animals and five meats, and also asking them to burn more gold, silver, and jewelry.

At first, Aunt Mei's family was also startled, but not because the Guanyin statue asked for worldly things; rather, because the Guanyin statue sent a dream, proving their deity was efficacious. Consequently, the whole family eagerly prepared the three sacrificial animals and five meats, gold, silver, and jewelry to offer to the Guanyin statue.

But later, the Guanyin statue seemed unsatisfied, appearing in a dream every few days to demand that Aunt Mei's family buy things to offer it. At first it was just pork, but later the Guanyin statue grew ever more dissatisfied, its demands changing from pork to suckling pig, and the amount of things to be burned increased.

At this point, Aunt Mei's family also felt strange, saying that Guanyin is compassionate and vegetarian, so why does it keep asking them for meat?

So Aunt Mei's family prepared to send the Guanyin statue away, no longer intending to worship it. But at this moment, the Guanyin statue sent a dream to Aunt Mei, saying it had taken a liking to her daughter. It told Aunt Mei to pick an auspicious day and push her daughter into the river, thereafter making her a servant boy to attend it.

Faced with such an unreasonable demand, Aunt Mei's family naturally refused. After all, the child is their own flesh and blood; even believers in gods and buddhas could not bear to harm their own child. Finally, last night the Guanyin statue sent a dream to Aunt Mei, issuing an ultimatum: if Aunt Mei does not send her daughter as a sacrifice today, it will come take a person itself, and from then on Aunt Mei's family will have no peace.

At noon today, Aunt Mei's daughter (Xiao Yu) was happily jumping rope with the neighbor's child at the doorway when she suddenly frothed at the mouth and collapsed. Thus, the scene we previously witnessed occurred.

"Damn it, what a lousy Guanyin, I'm going to smash it right now." The most excited was Pangzi, who rolled up his sleeves and prepared to rush in and smash the Guanyin statue.

I quickly grabbed Pangzi and said, "Don't rush; their offering isn't really to Guanyin, but the statue has been possessed by a sprite, so what they worship isn't a proper deity."

Yes, what Aunt Mei's family enshrines is not a proper Guanyin deity. It only has the appearance of Guanyin, but the statue is inhabited by an evil spirit. Especially since I just asked that relative whether Aunt Mei's statue had been consecrated, and they said no, which further confirms my guess.

The custom of enshrining spirits has existed since ancient times, whether for wealthy merchants or ordinary commoners. Most households enshrine a spirit. Some hope the spirit will protect and aid their endeavors; some seek to dispel calamity and secure peace, and after consulting a specialist they decide which spirit to enshrine.

However, enshrining a spirit is not as simple as buying a statue and placing it at home; one must have a specialist consecrate it and invite it on an auspicious day. Without consecration, the deity cannot descend, its dharma body is not in place, and the statue remains merely a clay figurine, only superficially impressive.

At this point, some "headless ghosts" (souls that died without anyone to worship them, wandering the Yangjian) or evil spirits and sprites take advantage of the vacancy to enter.

Generally, these evil spirits have varied aims. At first they come drawn by the scent of incense, seeking a peaceful abode. Once they are no longer satisfied with the incense offerings, they will pose as deities, sending dreams to demand what they want from people. If not given, they will make your sleep and appetite uneasy and your household unsettled.

I related all of this to Pangzi in detail; after hearing it, Pangzi curled his lip and said, "Never mind whether it's a headless ghost or an evil spirit—anyway, it's utterly depraved to want a little girl's life. It does evil, so I have the duty to eliminate it."

After saying that, Pangzi clenched his fists and prepared to rush into the house.

I grabbed Pangzi and said, "If you rush in like that, you might scare away this wild immortal, and then where would we catch it?"

What I said is factual—ghosts all have the five penetrations, let alone a cultivated sprite. With Pangzi charging in so recklessly, he probably wouldn't even reach the doorway before that wild immortal sensed it and slipped away. Whether or not this thing is hard to deal with aside, if it does escape, we wouldn't know where to catch it in the vast world.

Even worse, I fear it would wait for us to leave and then return to settle scores with Aunt Mei's family; by then we would become the culprits, our good intentions backfiring and harming them instead.

Pangzi scratched his head and asked me, "So what do you suggest we do?"

I pondered for a moment, considering strategies. I felt the best approach was to secretly set up a formation that would trap the evil spirit without gods or ghosts noticing. Even if the evil spirit eventually became alert and tried to flee, it would remain within the formation and could not escape my sight.

Thus I pulled Pangzi and Meng Xue aside and quietly said a few words,

After hearing that, Pangzi waved his hand and said, "Good, we'll split up now—you go set up the formation, I'll draw talismans. Then we'll reconvene at Meng Xue's aunt's home."

After Pangzi left, Meng Xue timidly asked me, "Brother Hai Sheng, what should I do now?"

I gave a mysterious smile: "Just follow your aunt inside to worship the deity; later you just get ready to watch the show."

Meng Xue entered the house, Pangzi went to prepare talismans, and I naturally went to set up the formation.

First I walked around Aunt Mei's house to survey the terrain, then I made the Seal Finger gesture, chanted the Invite Master Chant, held my breath, and began pacing the Nine Luminaries Pace around the house.

The formation I intend to set up is called the Nine Yin-Yang Formation; its purpose is to tread the Nine Luminaries Pace to summon the Nine Luminaries Sovereigns' power, laying down a heavenly-earthly prison.

The Nine Luminaries Sovereigns are not just a single deity; they encompass the Sun, Moon, Metal Virtue, Wood Virtue, Water Virtue, Fire Virtue, Earth Virtue, Ji Du, and Luo Hou—making nine sovereigns in total. The Nine Yin-Yang Formation also contains the Yin-Yang Five Elements, the power of heavenly-earthly balance. Once the formation is established, any ghost or spirit inside cannot escape.

But setting up this perfected Nine Luminaries Formation is quite troublesome; it requires not only items symbolizing the five phases—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—to support it, but also a Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram at the central focal point, and a Gazing-at-Heaven Banner and the like. For a moment I didn't know where to find all these things, yet I feared delay would bring change, so I could only tread the Nine Luminaries Pace, using myself as a medium, laying down an outline of the Nine Luminaries Formation.

Even just laying down the outline of the Nine Luminaries Formation was enough to tax me; throughout the stepping process I could not breathe, and I also had to watch that my steps did not go awry.

Anyone who practices the Dao knows that after summoning the master, we must hold a breath of vital energy in our mouths; whether we are pacing the Yu Step to lay a formation or drawing talismans to command troops, we must accomplish it in one continuous breath, without leaking any air, for if we do, the talisman formation will lose its efficacy.

Moreover, the Nine Luminaries contain nine sovereigns, each with a different Yu Step, so this process is not simply tedious; we must constantly change our steps, yet we must link those Yu Steps together to form a formation, with no breaks in between and no breathing—if we accidentally exhale a breath or misstep a foot, all our prior effort is utterly wasted.

My whole face flushed red from blood rushing to my brain, and I could barely hold my breath. Fortunately, at that moment I timely completed the final step of the Nine Luminaries Formation.

After completing the outline of the Nine Luminaries Formation, I buried a few Five Emperor Coins I carried on me onto the focal point representing the Metal Virtue Sovereign, without daring to pause even a moment, and I rushed headlong into the house.

At that moment Pangzi also happened to catch up; we exchanged an OK sign and entered the house together.

Inside the house stood a ceramic Guanyin statue; the sculptor who carved it must have been skilled, depicting Guanyin with kind eyes and a benevolent expression, lifelike.

However, this statue had never been consecrated, and was thus foully defiled by a sprite. Now this kind-eyed Guanyin image leaks a trace of evil aura that cannot be concealed.

Aunt Mei was holding the child, sobbing on the ground as she kowtowed before the statue on the table, murmuring pleas for Guanyin's forgiveness.

I glanced at the offerings on the altar: there was suckling pig, peanuts and oil, plus some other meat. I roughly understood what sort of gluttonous evil deity this was.

If I'm not mistaken, this should be a rat that has cultivated into a sprite.

Indeed, when I furtively observed the statue with my spiritual eye, I saw a rat-like creature sitting on the altar, greedily gnawing on a pig's trotter.

I and Pangzi exchanged a glance and nodded. Simultaneously we stepped forward, feigning bowed heads in devout worship of the Guanyin statue.

As I bent over, Pangzi suddenly lifted his head, formed the White Crane Finger, shouted an order, and flung his hand; five talismans flew from his sleeves, centering on the Guanyin statue and tightly encircling it.