Chapter 7

After that, I went to his house and lived together with this one‑eyed blind old man.

Li Feng had once told me the price of becoming his disciple: I must live alone all my life, with no children. He asked me whether I was still willing to become his disciple.

In response, I only asked him one question.

"If I study the Dharma arts with you, will I still be able to see my sister again?"

Li Feng hesitated for a moment, then said: "If there is fate, you will still be able to meet."

At that time I was too young to know the hidden meaning, unaware that the phrase was ambiguous, the second half being "if there is no fate, no one can do anything." My heart clung only to those three words "able to meet".

So, when Li Feng looked at me, I firmly nodded: "I want to take you as my master."

Having received my answer, Li Feng nodded, took out a piece of clothing from the room, and said to me: "Put on this clothing, stay in the room, do not come out, and wait until I call you tonight before you come out."

I obeyed his words, changed clothes, and quietly stayed in the room, going nowhere. Even if I was hungry, I did not step half a pace out of the room.

This situation continued until midnight, when Li Feng mysteriously called me out and told me to follow him.

I did not know where Li Feng was leading me, but I still obediently listened to his words.

Along the way, Li Feng instructed me: "In a moment I will ask you if there is anyone behind you; you must answer no. If I ask you if there is anyone ahead of you, you must also answer no. If you answer incorrectly, this disciple‑acceptance ceremony cannot be completed, and you cannot become my disciple. Understand?"

I nodded and committed Li Feng's words to memory.

Following Li Feng, we went deeper and deeper into remote places, eventually ascending a very secluded mountain, which was even more remote and profound than the mountain where I had sent the substitute.

After walking through a stretch of forest so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face, we gradually reached the mountaintop.

Li Feng walked ahead of me; suddenly he turned his head sharply and asked me: "Is there anyone behind you?"

I decisively shook my head and said no.

He then asked me: "Is there anyone ahead of you?"

This time I hesitated, because there was indeed a person standing ahead of me—Li Feng himself. Out of reflex I wanted to say yes, but then I recalled Li Feng's words, forced back the words about to escape my lips, and shook my head saying no.

Li Feng nodded satisfied and said to me: "Since there is no one either way, let's go down the mountain!"

Confused by his words, I followed him back along a roundabout route. I wondered in my heart, is becoming a disciple really that simple?

Of course not; this was merely one of the preludes to the disciple‑acceptance ceremony. Being young, I did not understand it then, but later I learned that this is one of the ways the Jue Tradition is transmitted.

Whenever a master of the Jue Tradition wishes to take on a disciple, he leads the candidate to an uninhabited mountaintop. This process must not be witnessed by anyone, especially women. After reaching the mountaintop, the master asks whether there is anyone ahead; you must answer no, meaning you reject your ancestors. When he asks whether there is anyone behind, you must also answer no, meaning you sever your lineage.

After Li Feng finished asking those questions, he led me down the mountain.

Back at home, Li Feng led me into the room, where there was a small Dharma altar. On the altar were three wooden tablets: the Yin Mountain Dharma Lord, the Ghost Power Great King, and Pangu the Great Emperor. Strangely, this altar was placed directly on the ground, unlike the deities I usually see, which are splendidly gilded and enshrined on tables.

Li Feng told me that these three are the deities worshipped by the Yin Mountain Dharma Teaching; the central one is the patriarch of the Yin Mountain Sect, the Yin Mountain Old Ancestor. Because the Yin Mountain Sect places great emphasis on earthly qi, most of the spirits it commands are from the netherworld. Hence the spirit altar must be set on the ground to draw earthly qi; it cannot be raised three feet off the ground. Such an altar is called an "lower altar" or a "yin altar".

Li Feng had me kneel and kowtow three times nine before the vat, then took out a vermilion brush and performed the investiture transmission for me.

The investiture transmission is a method of passing down the folk Dharma Teaching.

Within the trade, there is a saying that is always circulated:

This saying is called "True transmission is a single sentence; false transmission fills ten thousand volumes." It means that even if you read hundreds or thousands of Dharma texts at home, they are not as useful as a single sentence from your master. Even if you draw talismans with lifelike precision, without the patriarch's investiture they remain blank paper.

Unlike Daoism, the Dharma Teaching's arts are extremely easy to pick up. When a master wishes to pass a particular art to a disciple, he need only draw a talisman in his hand and transmit it hand‑to‑hand, or report to the patriarch for oral transmission, or draw a talisman on the disciple's body for each art transmitted. After a period of diligent practice, the disciple can use it.

Moreover, in the folk Daoist traditions I am familiar with, there are four methods of transmission.

The first is hand transmission: the master draws flourished characters in his hand, palm to palm with the disciple, and draws a talisman for each art transmitted.

The second is oral transmission: when the master wishes to pass an art to a disciple, he only needs to teach the oral formula and flourished characters, then report to the patriarch that the art has been given to a certain disciple, who may then use it. However, this method is rarely used. The reason is that only cultivators with deep inner strength can employ it; if one's strength is insufficient, the words spoken are ineffective, the disciple cannot use the art and will be thought a charlatan. Those who dare to use this method have attained a certain level of cultivation; every word they speak can create cause and effect, every action they make is heard by heaven. Thus, practitioners who reach this level are usually detached and unassertive, speaking and acting with extreme caution.

The last two are rather special: one is blood transmission, the other is body‑sealing transmission.

Blood transmission means linking by dripping blood, a parent‑to‑child intimate transmission. The disciple and master each cut their own palms, press the palms together, and join their bloodlines. Those who use this method are usually in a father‑son relationship. Of course, there are also non‑father‑son cases. If the master chooses this method to transmit to you, congratulations: it shows that in his heart he already regards you as his son, and he will impart his lifetime of skills without reservation.

Body‑sealing transmission, as the name suggests, consists of covering the body with talismans. This method is common among sects that command heavy troops. For example, the Meishan Sect that commands the "Five Rebellious Troops", the Lushan Sect that commands the "Five Garrison Troops", the Maoshan Sect that commands the Maoshan troops, or, like Li Feng, the inheritors of the Yin Mountain Sect that command the "Five Directional Yin Troops".

Because these troops refer not to humans but to ghosts. To command ghosts, you must first harden yourself and protect your body. Without a couple of skills or a magical treasure to guard yourself, you will be invaded by ghosts, resulting in your arts being useless and you harming yourself first. Hence, in these sects, body sealing is especially important.

Li Feng gave me the investiture using precisely the last method; he had me kneel before the spirit altar and drew talismans all over my body, presented a memorial, and reported to the Yin Mountain Patriarch and all the deities.

Then he gave me a Daoist "Stone‑Hosting Soul‑Hiding" tablet, erecting a plaque called the Stone‑Hosting Soul‑Hiding Tablet. In a Daoist's eyes, the Soul‑Hiding Tablet is a second life; nothing can compare to it.

The Soul‑Hiding Tablet is erected when a folk Daoist enters the path. It is set up by the master to prevent the disciple from harboring malicious intent and using the arts to harm others. For example, the Chen old man studying Maoshan mentioned earlier. The master ruined his cultivation not by tapping a few acupuncture points or slapping him as in movies, but by directly breaking his Soul‑Hiding Tablet, reducing his cultivation to zero.

Thus, saying the Soul‑Hiding Tablet is a Daoist's second life is by no means false.

That night, Li Feng, with a solemn expression, held up that tablet and solemnly gave me the following precepts.

First: "To deceive the master and destroy the ancestors, to kill fellow disciples, will certainly break the Soul‑Hiding Tablet."

Second: "To disregard cause and effect, to display the Dharma and harm others, will break the Soul‑Hiding Tablet,"

Third: "To transmit the Yin Mountain Dharma to those with corrupt intentions, will break the Soul‑Hiding Tablet."

Fourth… When he reached the fourth, Li Feng's eyes flickered with a hint of gloom, and then he said to me in a tone that admitted no room for doubt: "In the future, upon seeing any follower of the Thai Ghost Power Great King sect, kill without mercy." His tone was grim, as if the Ghost Power Great King sect owed him a great grudge.

But then he shook his head, sighed, and said to me: "Forget it, you don't need to remember the fourth precept; it's just old grudges, let them go. Nowadays, who among the Yin Mountain disciples could still remember the fourth precept?"

Li Feng's words left me very puzzled. Indeed, very puzzled. Leaving aside his hesitant, vacillating tone, just looking at the few spirit tablets on the ground, one of them is devoted to the Ghost Power Great King. This shows that the Ghost Power Great King sect shares deep origins with my Yin Mountain Sect. If we are all one family, why must we still slaughter each other? Moreover, the first precept forbids deceiving the master and destroying the ancestors, killing fellow disciples. Now he tells me to kill fellow disciples—doesn't that trap me?

Seeing my bewildered expression, Li Feng shook his head and said to me: "Sit down; since you have entered the Yin Mountain Gate, I will properly tell you the history of my Yin Mountain Sect."

I sat down, as if listening to a story, and heard Li Feng relate things I had never heard before.

After I sat down, Li Feng also sat down beside me, took out a small gourd, and inside was his own brewed liquor.

While drinking the liquor, Li Feng slowly revealed those unknown hardships.