Chapter 8

The Yin Mountain sect of Daoism is a folk religion passed down among the people. Although it belongs to Daoism, its situation is not good. Not only do outsiders hold prejudice against the Yin Mountain sect, considering its priests to be evil masters, but even members of the Mysterious Gate look down on it.

Few people today are well versed in the history of the Yin Mountain sect, including its inheritors, who merely study the teachings and cannot trace its origins. Some say the sect actually came from outsiders who brought it into the Central Plains, while others claim it was a tradition widely spread in Thailand.

But those are merely rumors. The Yin Mountain method is originally a branch of the Mysterious Gate orthodoxy. Its predecessor was the Maoshan method, combined with sorcery. It incorporated improvements from the Lushan, Maoshan, and Puan schools, among others, forming today's Yin Mountain method.

In the Yin Mountain sect, the invocations also include the Maoshan patriarch and other deities, but the primary focus is on the 'Ancestor of Yin Mountain Law' as the chief god, together with the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Three Demon True Lords, the Ghost Power Great King, the Underworld King, and the Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, etc., to carry out tasks.

Unlike the cultivation practices of other Daoist sects, the Yin Mountain method is quite unconventional. Whether it's the talisman-recording technique or the cultivation method itself, everything is different. The Yin Mountain sect emphasizes yin and prefers to practice in places with heavy yin energy, such as graveyards and burial grounds. The talismans they draw have the talisman heads written upside down, and when directing troops they invert the command flags, incense sticks, and even reverse yin and yang.

However, this approach is seen by fellow cultivators worldwide as merely unconventional and does not necessarily relate to heretical paths.

The true reasons the Yin Mountain sect was rejected by Daoist orthodoxy and came to be seen by many as a cult are not only because its arts emphasize ghosts and yin, and include practices like 'mihe' that violate heavenly principles, but mainly due to two specific matters.

The first is due to one of our Yin Mountain sect's ancestors.

Around the late Ming to early Qing dynasty, our Yin Mountain sect produced a prodigiously talented ancestor. No one knows his name; perhaps it is a taboo both within the sect and among the broader Mysterious Gate.

All we know is that this ancestor's name contains a homophone of the character 'feng' (maple), just like Li Feng's name, so people called him the 'Crazy' Daoist.

However, this Crazy Daoist was not actually mad; on the contrary, he was extraordinarily monstrous, to the point of causing people's hearts to tremble.

It is well known that in Yin Mountain arts there are incantations for controlling spirits such as 'mihe, chongkai, jiao hun, suo hun, qu hun, tiao hun, and wugui yun cai,' as well as Yin thunder and the Five Thunder Yin Strike martial techniques.

Yet this ancestor took the study of these formulas to a terrifying extent, and furthermore he forged a strange path, creating from the foundation of commanding the 'Five Direction Yin Soldiers' a forbidden art known as 'controlling the Yin Masters.'

The so-called Yin Masters are also called 'famous masters' in other Daoist teachings. They are Daoists who, after death, remain as yin spirits continuing their cultivation in the human world. In the invocations of many Daoist sects, when one hears 'we respectfully invite certain deities, the five great masters…', the five great masters actually refer to the deceased elders of one's own lineage.

The art of commanding troops is not exclusive to the Yin Mountain sect; many sects possess it, dispatching these yin soldiers and yin generals in the name of the Five Direction Ghost Emperors to carry out tasks. Initially, disciples could only command low-level wandering souls— the lowest rank of yin soldiers— whose only duty was to guard the master's house, alerting him if thieves entered or if someone tried to harm him, or to follow the master's orders to harass people.

When a disciple reaches a certain level of cultivation, they may then command higher-ranking yin soldiers— either a regional yin spirit, mountain essences and wild immortals cultivating at sites where the world's spiritual energy has crystallized, or they may invite the elders of their own lineage, i. e., the so-called Yin Masters.

However, this summoning is not a matter of them obeying your commands, especially the Yin Masters; you can only sincerely invite them. By offering paper money, you ask them to act on your behalf, but the Yin Masters also have the right to refuse to serve you.

The Yin Mountain sect's Crazy Daoist not only changed the two words 'dispatch' to 'control,' but even more terrifyingly, after gaining command over the yin soldiers, he conceived the bold idea of controlling the Yin Masters.

Moreover, what he controlled were not his own sect's Yin Masters, but those of other sects. Know that these Yin Masters were, in life, Daoists of various sects, the deceased elders of their disciples. To have one's own ancestors treated like pets, kept and controlled, would enrage anyone who learned of it— it is tantamount to digging up another's ancestral graves, an irreconcilable offense. Furthermore, because different sects have different cultivation methods, controlling a Yin Master is tantamount to obtaining that sect's secret techniques; who would willingly hand over their sect's secret manuals?

Either because this art is excessively harsh and yin‑damaging, or because it directly insults a sect's reputation, its members feared that their secret doctrines would fall into others' hands.

Thus the Crazy Daoist was besieged and killed by practitioners of many sects. Even his disciples were forced to surrender the secret of controlling masters and then committed suicide.

The lineage of the Yin Mountain Crazy Daoist was declared lost. Consequently, the sect's followers suffered rejection from the orthodox Mysterious Gate, being labeled by proper Daoists as heterodox side paths, and radicals went further, calling the entire Yin Mountain lineage a cult.

From then on, the Yin Mountain sect's grudge with numerous Daoist Mysterious Gate groups was sealed. Later, an incident occurred that worsened the relationship, making the Yin Mountain sect at one point a target of universal condemnation, like a street‑rat everyone shouts to beat.

To speak of this matter, one cannot avoid mentioning Thailand's Ghost King sect.

Under the Yin Mountain tradition there are the Ghost King method and the Pangu method— one literary, one martial— the literary side emphasizing yin arts, the martial side emphasizing martial techniques. It once spread in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and surrounding areas, which also border Cambodia and Thailand.

Those who studied the dharma transmitted the Yin Mountain Ghost King method to Thailand, where it unexpectedly merged with Thai head‑lowering practitioners. The head‑lowering masters then established their own school, renaming the Yin Mountain sect as the Ghost King sect, rejecting ancestors and disregarding lineage. Their followers only pursued desire and wealth, using any means to achieve their goals.

During the Republican era, the head‑lowering masters of Nanyang once moved southward. Most of these masters disregarded karma, were yin‑harmful evildoers who abused sorcery for money, not hesitating to take lives, acting as pimps for others, and having no concept of karmic retribution.

When these foreigners committed such atrocities on Chinese soil, the Mysterious Gate naturally would not tolerate them; in anger, Daoist teachings, Daoist schools, and Daoist sorcerers united as one to expel these outsiders.

In the ensuing clashes, many recognized that the head‑lowering masters' talisman arts were actually the script of the Yin Mountain sect, and their various techniques bore the imprint of my Yin Mountain lineage.

In fury, major Daoist sects and numerous disciples of various folk dharma schools came to the Yin Mountain sect demanding an explanation, with some even insisting that the sect hand over its secret manuals and be expelled from the Mysterious Gate.

It was precisely at this moment that the Yin Mountain sect realized the Thai head‑lowering masters had abandoned their origins, established their own school, and renamed themselves the Ghost King sect.

Although the Yin Mountain disciples were also furious, no matter how they explained, it was hard to make clear, because these heretics were using the sect's own arts; even if the facts were true, outsiders would see the explanation as merely an excuse to shift blame.

There is a saying that holds true: if someone dislikes you, no matter how much you explain, it's useless, because they already view you through colored lenses, and naturally your words come across as false pretenses.

Moreover, the Yin Mountain sect had long‑standing grudges with many major sects of the Mysterious Gate. After the Crazy Daoist incident, the sect knew it was in the wrong, surviving in the cracks among numerous Mysterious Gate groups, keeping a low profile.

Now, however, because of a Ghost King sect, they have been slapped with baseless accusations and demanded to surrender their secret manuals and be expelled from the Mysterious Gate. 'What can be tolerated, what cannot; what can be insulted, ancestors cannot.' Thus the Yin Mountain heirs, throwing caution to the wind, launched into battle, striking whoever provoked them.

On one side they fought with Daoist practitioners, while on the other they dealt with the karma‑ignoring Ghost King sect that wrought evil everywhere.

When Li Feng said this, I didn't understand. Why would the Yin Mountain sect fight two opponents at once— isn't that courting death? Li Feng also asked his own master, who is my grandmaster, about this.

At that time, my grandmaster answered my father as follows:

"Fighting the Mysterious Gate is something we are forced into; fighting the Ghost King sect is justified. The Ghost King method originally came from our Yin Mountain method, and our Yin Mountain method is a branch of the Mysterious Gate orthodoxy. Nowadays, heretical outsiders recklessly alter it, refusing to acknowledge they are Yin Mountain disciples, disrespecting the Mysterious Gate orthodoxy— if we don't beat them down, we fail to live up to the two words 'Daoist' and 'family'."

Thus, the battle ultimately descended into chaos.

The Daoist Mysterious Gate attacked the Ghost King head‑lowering masters and beat the Yin Mountain sect. The Yin Mountain sect fought the Daoist Mysterious Gate and roamed everywhere hunting the Thai Ghost King faction. The Ghost King sect, meanwhile, had to fend off attacks from both sides, making the situation even more chaotic than the Three Kingdoms wars.

The final outcome of this battle needs no elaboration. The Thai Ghost King sect suffered the worst damage; its Ghost King method originally derived from the Yin Mountain method, and the Yin Mountain sect belongs to Daoism. These outsiders, who only grasp the surface and not the essence, could not withstand Daoist divine powers. Moreover, their enemies included their own ancestors—the Yin Mountain sect.

The Ghost King sect was damaged, losing about half its disciples, and retreated to Nanyang. The Yin Mountain sect also fared poorly; after this battle, its already weakened state became even more feeble, forcing many disciples to hide their names and flee to distant places.

Eventually, many Daoists came to believe that the Yin Mountain method indeed possesses its own distinct character; just as the extreme yang Huaguang method is accepted, the existence of the heavily yin Yin Mountain method is also reasonable, for one yin and one yang constitute the foundation of the Dao.

The Yin Mountain sect reappeared in public view, but after the Ghost King sect conflict, many of its senior masters scattered far and wide; as they passed away, their arts were lost, making it now difficult to recover a complete Yin Mountain method.

Although that is true, many still hold prejudice against the Yin Mountain sect; thus, although its disciples have reemerged, their situation cannot be as favorable as other Daoist sects, lacking the favorable timing, location, and harmony needed to flourish.

After Li Feng finished speaking, his eyes were full of loneliness; he sat silently for a long time, as if immersed in the passage of years, longing for the past.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, instructing me: 'Hai Sheng, remember that the Dharma itself has no inherent good or evil; only people do. If one uses an evil method for good ends, it becomes good; if one uses a good method for evil ends, it becomes evil.'

"Mm, I understand, Master." I nodded vigorously, taking note of Li Feng's words.

Then I asked Li Feng, 'Master, does your fourth point still count?' The fourth point naturally refers to: upon seeing a member of the Ghost King sect, kill without mercy.

Li Feng pondered for a moment, then sighed, 'Forget it; let past grudges drift away with the wind. Nowadays, probably few remember those grudges. However…'

Li Feng paused, then said word by word, 'If you encounter a Ghost King disciple with ill intentions, you need show no mercy.'

Having said that, Li Feng flicked his sleeve, left the room, and his voice came again from outside the door.

"Go to sleep; tomorrow night you must still spend the night alone in a graveyard."

I muttered in my heart, "What... want me to stay alone in the graveyard for a night, damn!."