Chapter 175
Chapter 175
Dipping his peachwood sword in the blood from Chen Daji’s nose, Hua Jiunan drew a Soul-Stabilizing Talisman and a Six Ding and Six Jia Protective Talisman on Zhao Fei’s chest and back.
The Six Ding and Six Jia were Taoist warrior deities.
They originated in pre-Qin accounts of the sixty-year cycle and were often invoked in military Fangshi arts.
Thus, like the Merit Officers of the Four Seasons and the Twenty-Eight Mansions, they became common guardian generals in Taoism.
Taoists often summoned them as warrior deities during rites for averting calamity, commanding them to wield wind and thunder and subdue ghosts and gods.
Averting calamity meant using ritual arts to dispel an approaching disaster.
The Six Ding were Ding Mao, Ding Si, Ding Wei, Ding You, Ding Hai, and Ding Chou. Each was a yin deity.
The Six Jia were Jia Zi, Jia Xu, Jia Shen, Jia Wu, Jia Chen, and Jia Yin. They were yang deities.
The Heavenly Emperor commanded the Six Ding and Six Jia, who could “wield wind and thunder and subdue ghosts and gods.”
Taoists could summon them through Talismans.
According to the Taoist canon, anyone who wished to practice the arts of the Six Ding and Six Jia first had to receive the first rank of the *Supreme Secret Register of the Mysterious Maiden of the Nine Heavens for Slaying Evil*.
Only then could the arts be performed.
Fascinated, Chen Daji asked, “Big Brother, can you teach me to draw talismans?”
“I bring my own ink, so drawing them would be easier for me than for you.”
“And also, I want to learn that words becoming law ability of yours…”
After being struck in his seven-inch vital point by Chen Daji, Eighth Master Chang found the fool irritating no matter how he looked at him.
“Damn it, didn’t I tell you? It’s not called ‘words becoming law.’ It’s the Three Killing Art!”
“Besides, with a head full of pig guts, don’t even dream of mastering something so profound!”
Eighth Master Chang’s words left Chen Daji somewhat dejected.
“Come on, Eighth Master, I really do want to learn!”
“Big Brother looked unbelievably cool when he used it!”
Eighth Master Chang still cared for Daji, his good friend. Seeing his pitiful expression, he hesitated and offered some consolation.
“There is another way for you to become like the young master physician: utter one word, and ghosts and gods tremble.”
Successfully hooked, Chen Daji hurriedly asked with a shameless grin, “Eighth Master, what is it? Tell me!”
Eighth Master Chang looked at Chen Daji’s expectant, blood-smeared face and sighed deeply.
“Study hard and become a great Confucian scholar!”
“Haven’t you heard the line, ‘Read ten thousand volumes, and the brush will move as if divinely inspired’?”
“Those aren’t empty words!”
“Among the Three Teachings and Nine Schools, the vast righteous qi of Confucianism is the nemesis of all yin and evil things!”
“Study hard and become a great Confucian scholar?” Chen Daji quietly repeated.
A great Confucian scholar?! I only just learned how to use a dictionary. That goal seems a little difficult.
Forget it…
“Eighth Master, what are the Three Teachings and Nine Schools?”
“Aren’t Taoists, monks, and spirit medium disciples like Grandma the only people who can catch ghosts?”
Eighth Master Chang looked down on Chen Daji more by the moment.
“You little bastard, you’ve still attended school for more than ten years.”
“A few centuries ago, you’d already be qualified to sit the county examination!”
“How can you know nothing? Even this illiterate knows more than you!”
Without slowing the talismans he was drawing, Hua Jiunan explained to Chen Daji.
The Three Teachings were Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
Confucianism recognized Confucius as its founding teacher.
Buddhism entered the Divine Land from India during the Eastern Han dynasty.
Taoism was native to the Divine Land and regarded the Dao as the highest faith.
The Nine Schools referred to nine major schools of thought from the pre-Qin era through the early Han dynasty:
The Confucians, the Yin-Yang School, the Taoists, the Legalists, the Agriculturalists, the School of Names, the Mohists, the School of Diplomacy, and the Miscellaneous School.
Cultivating any one of them to its highest level could produce astonishing results.
Chen Daji scratched his head and nodded repeatedly.
“Holy crap, there’s that much to it!”
“Big Brother, which school do you think suits me?”
Before Hua Jiunan could answer, Eighth Master Chang chuckled.
“If you joined the Agriculturalists, you’d definitely accomplish more than anyone else!”
Rarely hearing Eighth Master Chang praise him, Chen Daji proudly asked for further instruction.
“Really? You have that much confidence in me, Eighth Master?”
“What do the Agriculturalists do? What do I need to learn?!”
“Just so we’re clear, I can’t handle anything too complicated!”
Seeing the fool take the bait, Eighth Master Chang laughed even more happily.
“Nothing complicated at all!”
“You don’t need to learn a thing, little bastard. Just keep doing what you already do-eat plenty and crap plenty…”
Chen Daji might be reckless, but he was not stupid.
After thinking for a moment, he realized Eighth Master Chang had tricked him.
“Holy crap! You want me to be a manure-making machine and produce fertilizer for the Agriculturalists?!”
“But how does cultivating like that help catch ghosts?”