Chapter 175: Xu Jian

After soothing the family, Xu Jia carefully teased Cai Yu a bit, but since the Eight Characters had been changed, keeping the original name was considered a taboo.

Therefore, he asked Xu Mu: "Mother, what do you think of this grandson? Have you thought of a name yet?"

Xu Mu said: "I have thought of a few, but I don't know if they are any good."

"Tell me first and let's see!"

"He is the one you brought back; haven't you thought of a name yourself?"

"I haven't had the time yet, have I? Mother, you come up with one."

"Let him follow your surname, Xu. You are called Xu Jia, how about calling him Shilin?"

Xu Jia?

Then am I Xu Xian? No, no, that won't do.

So he said: "Let's change it. I don't know, it would seem like he is of the same generation as me."

"Then how about Xu Jian? Modest and sparing with words; this child was very well-behaved when he was brought here, neither crying nor laughing."

"Then let's call him Xu Jian," Xu Jia said. "Taking 'Jian' from 'humility', with the Mountain trigram below and the Earth trigram above, it is indeed a hexagram of concealment and restraint. Among the sixty-four hexagrams, only this one has six lines that are all auspicious; it suits him perfectly."

Xu Jia lowered his head and teased him: "How about I call you Xu Jian?"

The infant, who was the shrunken form of Caiyu Zhenren, heard this and revealed a smile.

Seeing this, Xu Mu said: "It seems this child is also very satisfied. From now on, he shall be called Xu Jian. Let's give him a nickname as well."

Xu Jia laughed and said: "I used a big rooster when performing the Soul-Hiding ritual, and the Earth Soul I hooked out was an old hen, so let his nickname be Zhi'er."

"Zhi'er." Xu Mu held the baby: "My grandson, my treasure, Zhi'er!"

While teasing him, Xu Mu said: "I asked around the neighboring households and heard of a woman who gave birth to a baby girl. She didn't intend to keep her and sent her to another family to be raised. She has milk now, and I have already entrusted someone to ask if she is willing to come here to be a wet nurse and do some odd jobs on the side; she could earn some money too."

"You said to feed him goat's milk or dog's milk, but it's never as good as human milk."

"Does our family still have money?" Xu Jia complained: "The recent expenses have been particularly high, and I am not bringing in any wealth right now."

"There is still money for raising the child," Xu Mu said: "Your father's money is your father's, but I still have the dowry I brought from my maiden home. We can let the adults suffer, but we cannot let the child suffer."

After hearing this, Xu Jia said seriously: "Then if this kid doesn't show filial piety when he grows up, I will beat his bottom black and blue."

"The first one who should be beaten is you!"

Xu Mu was in a good mood, holding the baby: "This child really looks so handsome."

Another half-month passed, and Xu Jia finished the Worship the Dipper ritual; the entire Soul-Hiding ritual was concluded.

Over there, the Scripture Master, Jingzhu Daoren, and Zhang Zhenji, who was stationed at the City God Temple, had already carried over a small wooden coffin to request the Ancestor Portrait.

Seeing the Ancestor who had turned into an infant, they also had complex expressions: "The Ancestor's cultivation has reached the level of creation; to think he has returned from the dead..."

"To be precise, he didn't die; he has always been alive," Xu Jia corrected the statement: "Moreover, he is not your Ancestor anymore; your Ancestor is right here!"

Xu Jia pointed to the Ancestor Painting Scroll: "The time has been chosen. You will place this painting into the wooden coffin, then place the wooden coffin into the stone coffin, and bury it. This will complete the Life-Foundation Planting. In the main hall where I said to change the worship to 'Heaven and Earth', set up a 'Long Life Salary Position' for this child and light a Great Sea Lamp—the kind that cannot be extinguished."

"Every year in the third month, perform a Worship the Dipper for him."

"Every year during Qingming, the fifteenth of the seventh month, and the Winter Solstice, come to this Life-Foundation Ancestor Grave to burn paper, offer sacrifices, and sweep the grounds; that will allow him to grow up safely."

Zhang Zhenji nodded: "We understand everything."

Only then did Xu Jia let him take the Ancestor Portrait away: "I won't go with you; I have another matter to attend to."

Immediately, he cut off a lock of the infant's hair, placed it into the coffin first, then pressed the Ancestor Portrait into the coffin, spread it out, and closed the lid of the small coffin. It was then carried away by the Daoists of Shanju Guan; it was very festive, not like a funeral procession, but more like a Wandering God procession. The Daoists had long prepared candies and pastries to distribute to the children, and the children were very happy, running along with them.

As for Xu Jia, he called Xiao Hong to his side: "A few days ago, I asked you to collect cow herding ropes; did you collect them?"

Xiao Hong had been possessed by a mud doll last time and had several nightmares that night. The Talisman Xu Jia gave her was to prevent evil Qi, but it couldn't stop her from letting her imagination run wild.

Seeing her dark circles, Xu Jia was afraid she would make mistakes in her work, so he taught her the Turtle Breath Hibernation Technique along with the 'Old Farmer Stake'; they complemented each other well, and now she was getting more and more energetic in her work every day.

"Young Master, I found three or four of those cow herding ropes you mentioned that have been used for more than ten years. These ropes stink to death; should I wash them?"

Cow herding ropes were all woven from coarse hemp; some were even tanned, but after long use, dragging on the ground, getting wet, and even getting covered in cow dung, they always turned into that filthy, pitch-black kind.

But that was exactly what Xu Jia wanted.

"Why wash them? If you wash them, they'll be useless."

The second thing Xu Jia wanted to do was to capture and subdue the Green Bull spirit of Jiujiegou. Bull spirits have the greatest strength; in Journey to the West, the Bull Demon King was known as the 'Great Strength King'.

For Xu Jia to capture a bull spirit using a Talisman—to be honest, Talismans are more effective against entities without physical bodies like evil gods and demons. For something like a bull spirit, unless Xu Jia knew Thunder Law or flying swords, he would have to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

Or, like last time, 'treat it by its roots' by using an Eight Trigrams net woven from grass rope to trap it, using a treasure like the Wind Calming Pill to suppress the evil wind, and finally using a long-used Chicken Cage to cover it, only then could he kill it completely.

So, dealing with the Green Bull spirit required the same approach.

Treating it is nothing more than the cow nose ring and the cow herding rope.

The cow herding rope has the meaning of 'restraint', capable of using weak force to control the great strength of a bull, and also has the meaning of 'taming'.

Farmers use this to lead bulls, using bamboo strips to whip them, making the bulls pull plows to till the land; moving forward and turning are all very natural.

In fact, Xu Jia had also prepared a cow nose ring, made of silver, with patterns carved on it. He had spent several days refining it and setting up prohibitions, but he didn't have the ability to run up to this bull and insert the nose ring; that could only be done when it was a calf.

Therefore, he could only use the cow herding rope first.

"And there is this item too."

Xu Jia took out a bag of seeds.

These were the seeds of the morning glory; they were poisonous. If the bull demon ingested them, it would suffer from this morning glory poison.

Xu Jia crushed them, poured a bag of croton beans into them, and crushed them together. Then, using a Talisman incantation, he extracted the medicine Qi. This Capture Medicine Method belongs to the External Elixir method, but it was used to inject this medicine Qi into a stalk of rice still attached to its mud.

This rice was about to ripen and already had two colors, green and yellow. At this moment, Xu Jia dyed a portion of it red with morning glory juice, making it appear multi-colored, very much like an auspicious omen.

After injecting the demonic nature, Xu Jia dripped a drop of his blood onto it. Xu Jia's blood now had a fatal attraction to demons and ghosts. After finishing, Xu Jia recited the 'Qingdi Curse' to bless this rice seedling. Qingdi is the god and master of all vegetation; blessing it with this curse had many miraculous effects.

After finishing, Xu Jia nodded: "Not bad. This morning glory poison can cause its Dharma Power to be restrained, and the croton beans have a nature like raging fire; that will be enough for it to handle."

Hu Jinhua crawled in through the dog hole and drove away Xun Taizi, who was bothering her: "Master Xu, will this work? Although this rice seedling is three-colored and somewhat miraculous, it doesn't mean it will definitely eat it, right?"

Xu Jia said: "You don't know, there are two types of green bulls. One is the Jia Wood Green Bull, which is a primordial green bull and belongs to the same category as the Azure Dragon; the Azure Dragon is transformed from Yi Wood Divine Qi."

"The other is the Post-Heaven Green Bull; although it has a mortal body, its ancestor was Shennong, the Flame Emperor."

Legend has it that the Flame Emperor tasted a hundred herbs; he had an ox head and a human body with a crystal belly. After he ate the gut-wrenching grass and died, his ox head fell to the ground and transformed into Ox Head Hill. A green ox grew on the hill, skilled at eating the hundred herbs and also able to plow; it has always been the totem of the Flame Emperor's tribe.

As for the rice seedlings, do not look down on them as ordinary; their ancestor was the Five-Colored Grain brought by the Flame Emperor's daughter from the Heavenly Emperor's garden. The grain grew five cereals, also known as Five-Colored Millet. Only after the Flame Emperor obtained the Five-Colored Grain did he teach the common people how to farm.

"I produced this three-colored grain here, blessed it with a curse, and it possesses the fiery nature of croton, combining the water and earth elements of the paddy field. The seedlings themselves are deeply rooted in the wood element; in truth, they only lack the metal element. But what is the metal element? Golden grain is also metal, and the autumn harvest belongs to metal. Therefore, by using the Qingdi Curse to hasten its ripening, it gained a bit of the false nature of the Five-Colored Grain."

"This ox demon loves to eat rice seedlings, so there is no reason it wouldn't eat this."

Xu Jia handed the mud-covered seedlings to Hu Jinhua: "Plant them in the green seedling field of Jiujiegou. I have dispatched the mud doll Liu Yuanheng to monitor that fellow; as soon as he eats them, we will make our move."

Hu Jinhua then grabbed the seedlings and fled toward Jiujiegou.

Xu Jia took the filthy cow rope, untied it one by one into hempen threads, and then began to weave them together, incorporating the drawn Lushan Rope Demon Talisman, Mountain Searching Talisman, and Cave Sealing Talisman.

These talismans were all drawn by Xu Jia using the newly obtained Wish Power Dharma Coin, channeling the Earth Immortal Dharma Power borrowed from his past life by Xu Jidi through his heart. They were immensely powerful, intended to make this cow herding rope serve as Taishang Laojun's Shaking Gold Rope.

Do not think that Journey to the West is merely one of the Four Great Classical Novels; many Dharma sects refine their magic tools and treasures according to the methods within it.

Especially the "Great Sage Sect," which treats Journey to the West as a precious treasure. Of course, Buddhism says Journey to the West contains the secret to attaining Buddhahood, while Taoism says Journey to the West is a secret text of alchemy... in any case, it can be interpreted however one likes.

While weaving in the talismans, Xu Jia recited scriptures. What scripture? The Taishang Laojun's Scripture of Constant Purity. This scripture can calm the heart-monkey and lock the intent-horse; it also carries the meaning of "binding," though it is not for external binding, but for internally binding one's own spirit.

Weaving the three cow ropes into one, Xu Jia then tied it into a knot according to the "Difficulty" hexagram, before coiling it up specifically for offering on the Zongtan.

He then sat cross-legged, circulated his energy, visualized his physical body, introspected his bones, flesh, and meridians, and performed the Heaven and Earth observation.

On the other side, Shanju Guan carried the coffin with extreme caution, never looking back and never letting the coffin touch the ground. Whenever they needed to rest or offer sacrifices to the Earth Deity, Mountain God, or any spirits, they always had someone clear the path ahead and perform the rituals in advance.

Only then, after several hours, did they arrive at the Centipede-Holding-Pearl land.

This place had already become a pool of water. Xu Jia had diverted groundwater to drown the centipede earth dragon, but by using the Five Elements Sand to dot the acupoint, he awakened the true dragon, replacing the original centipede dragon.

Therefore, the Baozhu Land was currently gushing with "Water Lotus."

"Are you sure this is the place?" the Scripture Master asked the Feng Shui Daoist.

"According to what True Person Xu said, this is the place. The other earth holes have already been buried with the ashes of those young women who died at Dizang An. Only this spot, and the spring eye where the centipede head was, are superior land, but that spring eye has the intent of the centipede hunting, which is not as good as this pearl-holding aspect."

"Then how do we bury it inside?"

"Plant the foundation under the water?"

"According to True Person Xu, we only need to ensure the Stone Coffin does not take in water, and it can be directly submerged into the pool." The Feng Shui Daoist looked at it, "Only one Water-Avoiding Pearl is needed; if there is no Water-Avoiding Pearl, there are other ways."

"For example?"

"Using wax."

The Feng Shui master said: "This has also been prepared."

Thus, they held the proper rituals of signing the Yin Contract, preparing the Yinzhai, and various other ceremonies.

Only then did they place the wooden coffin containing the Ancestor Portrait into the Stone Coffin, lit candles inside the coffin to consume the air, poured in liquid wax, closed the lid, and then carefully, with the strength of Changyu Daxian, hoisted it upright and inserted it into the Baozhu Land.

Why bury it upright? True Person Xu had said: "If the ancestors are buried upright, the descendants will surely prosper."

They saw the Stone Coffin enter the water, and the previously gushing "Water Lotus" calmed down and stopped gushing.

This was because the Dragon Qi of the Earth Vein was no longer leaking and had transferred into the coffin. The coffin itself is a "gathering and storing" container; in Taoism, its function is similar to a Gourd, and it can even hold more than a Gourd.

As this was buried, Xu Jian, who was being held by Xu Mu, began to cry. Just as Xu Mu was about to take her to find a wet nurse, she noticed that Xu Jian had a red mole on her forehead that hadn't been there before.

"When was this dotted on?"

Xu Jia also felt a response and began to calculate: "This child has changed from opposing me to prospering me. If she lives twelve more years, she will surely be able to cultivate into an Earth Immortal. You little one, later when I establish the Shangqing Lingbao Zongtan, I will train you to be the best fighter. Xiaopangdun's temperament is too gentle, and he lacks courage; his future is not as bright as yours."

After being "prospered" by Xu Jian, Xu Jia felt his heart and mind stir, always feeling as if some good thing was about to happen.

But he still suppressed the restlessness; this feeling was not to be trusted.

Not long after, the mud doll spirit Liu Yuanheng came to report: "Dharma Lord! That green ox demon has already eaten the seedlings!"

Xu Jia checked the time; it was just approaching the Hour of the Ox, around two in the morning. This was the time when the night was most silent.

Though he feared many who cultivated immortality were still quite excited at this time.

"It seems his allotted time is up," Xu Jia laughed.

He immediately picked up the cow rope tied with the "Difficulty" hexagram, utilized the Jia Ma Technique and the "Earth-Shrinking Method," and headed toward Jiujiegou.

On the way, he met Hu Jinhua, Huang Pipo, and the now-thinner Hai Sanniang.

Hu Jinhua said: "Hai Sanniang also has a bit of strength; if that ox demon tries to run, she can catch him off guard."

Xu Jia nodded: "Just listen to my orders later!"

As it turned out, before they even reached Jiujiegou, they heard a sound like thunder, "Crack! Pop!"

It was clearly the fiery nature of the croton taking effect.

At the same time, there were cries of agony. Xu Jia observed with his night vision and saw that under the green ox demon's tail, a section of its intestines had been pulled out, and it was struggling painfully to pull them back in.

(End of chapter)